moment
Americannoun
-
an indefinitely short period of time; instant.
I'll be with you in a moment.
-
Usually the moment the present time or any other particular time.
He is busy at the moment.
-
a definite period or stage, as in a course of events; juncture.
at this moment in history.
-
importance or consequence.
a decision of great moment.
- Synonyms:
- momentousness, magnitude, weight, significance
-
a particular time or period of success, excellence, fame, etc..
His big moment came in the final game.
-
Statistics. the mean or expected value of the product formed by multiplying together a set of one or more variates or variables each to a specified power.
-
Philosophy.
-
an aspect of a thing.
-
Obsolete. an essential or constituent factor.
-
-
Mechanics.
-
a tendency to produce motion, especially about an axis.
-
the product of a physical quantity and its directed distance from an axis.
moment of area; moment of mass.
-
noun
-
a short indefinite period of time
he'll be here in a moment
-
a specific instant or point in time
at that moment the doorbell rang
-
the present point of time
at the moment it's fine
-
import, significance, or value
a man of moment
-
physics
-
a tendency to produce motion, esp rotation about a point or axis
-
the product of a physical quantity, such as force or mass, and its distance from a fixed reference point See also moment of inertia
-
-
statistics the mean of a specified power of the deviations of all the values of a variable in its frequency distribution. The power of the deviations indicates the order of the moment and the deviations may be from the origin (giving a moment about the origin ) or from the mean (giving a moment about the mean )
Related Words
See minute 1. See importance.
Etymology
Origin of moment
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin mōmentum “motion, cause of motion,” hence, “influence, importance, essential factor, moment of time,” from movimentum (unattested), equivalent to mō- (variant stem of the verb movēre move ) + -mentum -ment
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If the YouTube interview was the turning point, the next big moment came on 15 March 2024, a national holiday marking the anniversary of Hungary's failed revolution in 1848.
From BBC
Keen says she actually preferred Galaxy to the first film as it has "loads of funny moments" alongside "cute, wholesome moments".
From BBC
Historically - both in the 1970s and over the past few years - incumbent governments across the world have been punished by voters in such moments.
From BBC
The breakthrough traces back to an unexpected moment during a neurobiology course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts.
From Science Daily
There’s not a moment in the play that isn’t deeply inhabited by a cast that understands the value of listening.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
