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speed

SPEED/spiːd/

Pluralspeeds

Verbspeeds, speeding, sped

18 meanings of speed

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  1. 1
    measured ratenouncountable or uncountable
    The rate at which something moves, measured as the distance covered over a given time.

    At this speed, the journey will take about three hours.

    Engineers calculated the speed of the falling object.

    UsageSay at a speed of 60 km/h, at high speed, at full speed.

    Similarvelocity, rate, pace

    Note

    Physics draws a line that everyday English ignores. Speed is how fast; velocity is how fast and in which direction. Speed is the magnitude alone, so a car circling a track at a steady rate keeps one speed while its velocity keeps changing.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • In physics, speed is a scalar magnitude; velocity also specifies direction. openstax.org
    • An object moving around a circle at constant speed has changing velocity because its direction changes. openstax.org
  2. 2
    rapid pacenouncountable or uncountable
    The condition of moving fast, or the ability to move quickly.

    The train gathered speed as it left the station.

    Her speed on the track surprised everyone.

    UsageCommon phrases: gather speed, pick up speed, at speed.

    Similarvelocity, rapidity, celerity

    Oppositeslowness, sluggishness

    Note

    Marlowe's "Returne with speed" shows the old phrase with speed, meaning promptly.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • “Returne with speed” occurs in Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great, Part I. Mycetes speaks the line to Theridamas; the context supports the interpretation “promptly.” digitalanthology.folger.edu
  3. 3
    make happen fasterverbtransitive
    To make a process or event happen more quickly.

    These reforms will speed the approval of new medicines.

    Fertilizer can speed the ripening of the fruit.

    UsageIn everyday speech people often say speed up: speed up the process.

    Similaraccelerate, hasten, expedite, quicken, fast-track

    Oppositeslow, delay, hinder, impede

  4. 4
    go fastverbintransitive
    To move or travel quickly, or to take or send someone or something somewhere quickly.

    Motorcycles speed past the old bridge all day long.

    The runners speed toward the finish line.

    UsageOften with along, past or through: speeding along the road, sped past us.

    Similarrace, zoom, rush, hurtle, dash

    Oppositecrawl, creep, dawdle

    Note

    The everyday motion verb is where the past tense divides. Sped is the plain form, while speeded also serves as a British past tense and participle. Shakespeare's Second Part of Henry the Fourth already has "I have speeded hither."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  5. 5
    drive too fastverbintransitive
    To drive faster than the legal speed limit.

    She got a ticket for speeding through town.

    Cars that speed past the school worry the parents.

    UsageMostly in the -ing form: caught speeding, a ticket for speeding.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–2, 6–9, 11, 13

The word comes from Old English spēd ("success"), which became Middle English sped, meaning prosperity, good luck, quickness or success. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *spōaną, a verb meaning to prosper, succeed or be happy, and ultimately to the Proto-Indo-European root *speh₁-, "to prosper, turn out well." Dutch spoed ("haste, speed") and German Sput are related, and perhaps Ancient Greek speúdō ("to hasten") as well.

Meanings 3–5, 10, 12, 14–16

Proto-West Germanic *spōdijan ("to succeed") gave Old English spēdan, meaning to succeed, prosper or speed, which became Middle English speden. Dutch spoeden ("to hurry, rush") and German sputen ("to speed") are cognates.