Adjacent Words

Velocity definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VELOC'ITY, n. [L. velositas, from velox, swift, allied to volo, to fly.]
1. Swiftness; celerity; rapidity; as the velocity of wind; the velocity of a planet or comet in its orbit or course; the velocity of a cannon ball; the velocity of light. In these phrases, velocity is more generally used than celerity. We apply celerity to animals; as, a horse or an ostrich runs with celerity, and a stream runs with rapidity or velocity; but bodies moving in the air or in etherial space, move with greater or less velocity, not celerity. This usage is arbitrary, and perhaps not universal.
2. In philosophy, velocity is that affection of motion by which a body moves over a certain space in a certain time. Velocity is in direct proportion to the space over which a body moves. Velocity is absolute or relative; absolute, when a body moves over a certain space in a certain time; relative, when it has respect to another moving body. Velocity is also uniform or equal; or it is unequal, that is, retarded or accelerated.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: distance travelled per unit time [syn: speed, velocity]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -ties) Etymology: Middle French velocité, from Latin velocitat-, velocitas, from veloc-, velox quick; probably akin to Latin veg?re to enliven — more at wake Date: 15th century 1. a. quickness of motion ; speed <the velocity of sound> b. rapidity of movement <[my horse's] strong suit is grace & personal comeliness, rather than velocity — Mark Twain> c. speed imparted to something <the power pitcher relies on velocity — Tony Scherman> 2. the rate of change of position along a straight line with respect to time ; the derivative of position with respect to time 3. a. rate of occurrence or action ; rapidity <the velocity of historical change — R. J. Lifton> b. rate of turnover <the velocity of money>

Britannica Concise

Quantity that designates the speed and direction in which a body moves. It can be represented graphically by an arrow (pointing in the direction of the motion), the length of which is proportional to the magnitude, or speed. For an object in circular motion, the direction at any instant is tangential to the circle at that point, and so is perpendicular to the radius at that point. The instantaneous speed of a vehicle, such as an automobile, can be determined by a speedometer, or mathematically by differential calculus. The average speed is the ratio of the distance traveled in any given time interval divided by the time taken.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 the measure of the rate of movement of a usu. inanimate object in a given direction. 2 speed in a given direction. 3 (in general use) speed. Phrases and idioms: velocity of escape = escape velocity. Etymology: F vélocité or L velocitas f. velox -ocis swift

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Velocity Ve*loc"i*ty, n.; pl. Velocities. [L. velocitas, from velox, -ocis, swift, quick; perhaps akin to v?lare to fly (see Volatile): cf. F. v['e]locit['e].] 1. Quickness of motion; swiftness; speed; celerity; rapidity; as, the velocity of wind; the velocity of a planet or comet in its orbit or course; the velocity of a cannon ball; the velocity of light. Note: In such phrases, velocity is more generally used than celerity. We apply celerity to animals; as, a horse or an ostrich runs with celerity; but bodies moving in the air or in ethereal space move with greater or less velocity, not celerity. This usage is arbitrary, and perhaps not universal. 2. (Mech.) Rate of motion; the relation of motion to time, measured by the number of units of space passed over by a moving body or point in a unit of time, usually the number of feet passed over in a second. See the Note under Speed. Angular velocity. See under Angular. Initial velocity, the velocity of a moving body at starting; especially, the velocity of a projectile as it leaves the mouth of a firearm from which it is discharged. Relative velocity, the velocity with which a body approaches or recedes from another body, whether both are moving or only one. Uniform velocity, velocity in which the same number of units of space are described in each successive unit of time. Variable velocity, velocity in which the space described varies from instant, either increasing or decreasing; -- in the former case called accelerated velocity, in the latter, retarded velocity; the acceleration or retardation itself being also either uniform or variable. Virtual velocity. See under Virtual. Note: In variable velocity, the velocity, strictly, at any given instant, is the rate of motion at that instant, and is expressed by the units of space, which, if the velocity at that instant were continued uniform during a unit of time, would be described in the unit of time; thus, the velocity of a falling body at a given instant is the number of feet which, if the motion which the body has at that instant were continued uniformly for one second, it would pass through in the second. The scientific sense of velocity differs from the popular sense in being applied to all rates of motion, however slow, while the latter implies more or less rapidity or quickness of motion. Syn: Swiftness; celerity; rapidity; fleetness; speed.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Paracentric Par`a*cen"tric, Paracentrical Par`a*cen"tric*al, a. [Pref. para- + centric, -ical: cf. F. paracentrique.] Deviating from circularity; changing the distance from a center. Paracentric curve (Math.), a curve having the property that, when its plane is placed vertically, a body descending along it, by the force of gravity, will approach to, or recede from, a fixed point or center, by equal distances in equal times; -- called also a paracentric. Paracentric motton or velocity, the motion or velocity of a revolving body, as a planet, by which it approaches to, or recedes from, the center, without reference to its motion in space, or to its motion as reckoned in any other direction.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(velocities) Velocity is the speed at which something moves in a particular direction. (TECHNICAL) ...the velocities at which the stars orbit. ...high velocity rifles. N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Swiftness, speed, celerity, fleetness, quickness, rapidity. 2. (Mech.) Rate of motion.

Moby Thesaurus

activity, actuation, alacrity, amble, bat, briskness, celerity, dispatch, drag, droop, dynamics, expedition, fleetness, flounce, gait, gallop, going, haste, headway, hitch, hobble, hurry, impetus, jog, kinematics, kinesipathy, kinesis, kinesitherapy, kinetics, limp, lock step, lurch, miles per hour, mince, mincing steps, mobilization, momentum, motion, motivation, move, movement, moving, pace, paddle, piaffer, prance, quickness, rack, rapidity, restlessness, roll, running, saunter, scuttle, shamble, shuffle, sidle, single-foot, slink, slither, slouch, slowness, speed, stagger, stalk, step, stir, stirring, stride, stroll, strolling gait, strut, swagger, swiftness, swing, toddle, totter, tread, trot, unrest, waddle, walk