moment

See also: Moment

Contents

English

Etymology

From Middle English moment, from Old French moment, from Latin mōmentum. Doublet of momentum.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊmənt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊmənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧ment

Noun

moment (countable and uncountable, plural moments)

1. A brief, unspecified amount of time.

   Wait a moment, while I lock the front door.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:

     Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] , and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

     Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.

   • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:

     Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.

2. The smallest portion of time; an instant.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

3. Weight or importance.
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, Richard III, 3,7,67:

     In deep designs, in matter of great moment, / No less importing than our general good.

   • 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Second Stain, (Norton 2005, p.1192)

     The document in question is of such immense importance that its publication might very easily – I might almost say probably – lead to European complications of the utmost moment.

4. (physics, mechanics) The turning effect of a force applied to a rotational system at a distance from the axis of rotation. Also called moment of force.
5. (historical) A definite period of time, specifically one-tenth of a point, or one-fortieth or one-fiftieth of an hour.
6. (informal) A petit mal episode; such a spell.
7. (colloquial) A fit; a brief tantrum.
8. (mathematics) An infinitesimal change in a varying quantity; an increment or decrement.
9. (mathematics) A quantitative measure of the shape of a set of points.

   If the points represent mass, then the zeroth moment is the total mass, the first moment divided by the total mass is the center of mass, and the second moment is the rotational inertia.

Synonyms

• (brief span of time): stound, instant, trice
• (physics): moment of force

Derived terms

Terms derived from moment

• aha moment
• any moment now
• at a moment's notice
• at the moment
• at this moment in time
• blonde moment
• branding moment
• dipole moment
• driveway moment
• eureka moment
• London moment

• magnetic moment
• moist moment
• momentarily
• momentary
• momentful
• momentless
• momently
• moment of force
• moment of inertia
• moment of silence
• moment of truth
• on the spur of the moment
• polar moment of inertia
• Portillo moment

• second moment of area
• second moment of inertia
• senior moment
• seismic moment
• single-minded branding moment
• spur-of-the-moment
• spur of the moment
• tumbleweed moment

Related terms

• torque

Translations

very brief period of time

• Afrikaans: oomblik (af)
• Albanian: moment (sq) m, çast (sq) m
• Arabic: لَحْظَة‎ f (laḥẓa), دَقِيقَة‎ f (daqīqa)
• Armenian: պահ (hy) (pah), մոմենտ (hy) (moment)
• Asturian: momentu m, instante m
• Azerbaijani: an (az), dəqiqə (az), ləhzə
• Belarusian: хвілі́на f (xvilína), міг m (mih), імгне́нне n (imhnjénnje), хвілі́нка f (xvilínka), мо́мант m (mómant)
• Bulgarian: миг (bg) m (mig), моме́нт (bg) m (momént), мину́та (bg) f (minúta)
• Burmese: ခဏ (my) (hka.na.)
• Catalan: moment (ca) m, instant (ca) m
• Chichewa: mphindi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 時刻 (zh), 时刻 (zh) (shíkè), 瞬間 (zh), 瞬间 (zh) (shùnjiān), 時候 (zh), 时候 (zh) (shíhòu)

• Czech: okamžik (cs) m, moment (cs) m
• Danish: øjeblik (da)
• Dutch: ogenblik (nl) n, moment (nl) n, oogwenk (nl) m, tijdstip (nl) f, tel (nl) m
• Esperanto: momento (eo)
• Estonian: hetk, moment (et)
• Faroese: løta f
• Finnish: hetki (fi), hetkinen (fi), tuokio (fi)
• French: instant (fr) m, moment (fr) m
• Friulian: moment m
• Galician: momento (gl) m, instante m, intre m
• Georgian: მომენტი (momenṭi), წუთი (c̣uti), მეყი (meq̇i), წამი (c̣ami)
• German: Augenblick (de) m, Moment (de) m, Zeitpunkt (de) m

  Middle High German: ougenblick

• Greek: στιγμή (el) f (stigmí)

  Ancient: στιγμή f (stigmḗ)

• Hebrew: רֶגַע‎ (he) m (réga')
• Hindi: पल (hi) m (pal)
• Hungarian: pillanat (hu)
• Icelandic: augnablik (is) n
• Ido: instanto (io)
• Indonesian: saat (id)
• Interlingua: momento
• Irish: nóiméad (ga) m
• Italian: momento (it) m
• Japanese: 瞬間 (ja) (しゅんかん, shunkan)
• Kazakh: сәт (sät), замат (zamat), лезде (lezde), сәтте (sätte)
• Khmer: ភ្លែត (km) (phlɛɛt)
• Korean: 순간 (ko) (sun-gan)
• Kriol: please add this translation if you can
• Kyrgyz: момент (moment), учур (ky) (uçur)
• Ladin: mument m, momënt m
• Lao: ບຶດດຽວ (bưt diāu), ບັດ (bat), ບຶດ (bưt)
• Latgalian: šaļts, šaļteņa, strēče, olpa
• Latin: punctum n, ^{(please verify)} momentum temporis , punctum temporis
• Latvian: moments n, mirklis n, brīdis n

• Limburgish: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: akimirka ?, momentas m
• Luxembourgish: Abléck m
• Macedonian: момент m (moment), миг m (mig)
• Maltese: mument m
• Mongolian: агшин (mn) (agšin)
• North Frisian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: øyeblikk (no) n

  Nynorsk: augeblikk n, augneblikk n, augeblink m, augneblink m, augneblunk m

• Occitan: moment m
• Old English: bearhtmhwīl f, ēagan bearhtm m, ēagan beorht n
• Old Norse: please add this translation if you can
• Pashto: آن‎ (ps) m (ān), اثنا‎ (ps) f (asnã), شېبه‎ (ps) f (šebá)
• Persian: لحظه‎ (fa) (lahze), دقیقه‎ (fa) (daqiqe), دم‎ (fa) (dam)
• Polish: chwila (pl) f, moment (pl) m
• Portuguese: instante (pt) m, momento (pt) m
• Romanian: clipă (ro) n, moment (ro)
• Romansch: mument m, mumaint m
• Russian: моме́нт (ru) m (momént), мгнове́ние (ru) n (mgnovénije), миг (ru) m (mig), мину́та (ru) f (minúta), мину́тка (ru) f (minútka), мину́точка (ru) f (minútočka)
• Sardinian: mamentu m, mementu m, momentu m
• Saterland Frisian: please add this translation if you can
• Scots: please add this translation if you can
• Scottish Gaelic: greis f, mòmaid f, priobadh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: tren (sh) m, trenutak (sh) m, čas (sh) m, časak (sh) m, hip (sh) m, moment (sh) m

• Sicilian: mumentu m
• Slovak: okamžik n, okamih n, chvíľa n, moment n
• Slovene: trenutek (sl) m
• Spanish: momento (es) m
• Swahili: kitambo class 7/8, nukta (sw) class 9/10
• Swedish: momang (sv) c, ögonblick (sv) n, moment (sv) n
• Tagalog: saglit (tl)
• Tajik: лаҳза (lahza), дақиқа (daqiqa), дам (dam)
• Thai: ครู่ (th) (krûu), เดี๋ยว (th) (dǐao)
• Tibetan: ཁྱུག་ཙམ་ཞིག (khyug tsam zhig)
• Tok Pisin: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: an (tr), dakika (tr), moment (tr)
• Turkmen: pursat
• Ukrainian: моме́нт (uk) m (momént), мить (uk) f (mytʹ), хвили́на f (xvylýna), хви́лька f (xvýlʹka), хвили́нка f (xvylýnka)
• Urdu: پل‎ m (pal)
• Uyghur: پەيت‎ (peyt)
• Uzbek: daqiqa (uz), lahza (uz), moment (uz)
• Venetian: momento m, mumento m
• Vietnamese: chốc lát, khẩn yếu (vi), một chút (vi), một lát, việc quan trọng
• Welsh: eiliad (cy) c
• West Frisian: tel c, eagenblik n
• Yiddish: אויגנבליק‎ (yi) m (oygnblik), מאָמענט‎ m (moment), רגע‎ m (rege)

moment in time

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 刻 (zh) (kè),

• Dutch: moment (nl) n, wijl (nl) f, wijle f, tijdstip (nl) n, stond (nl) m
• Finnish: hetki (fi), silmänräpäys (fi)
• Galician: intre m
• Greek: στιγμή (el) f (stigmí)

• Lao: ດຽວ (diāu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tidspunkt n, øyeblikk (no) n

  Nynorsk: tidspunkt n, augeblikk n, augeblink m

• Scottish Gaelic: mòmaid f
• Volapük: timül (vo)

moment of force

• Bulgarian: моме́нт на си́ла m (momént na síla)
• Catalan: moment de força m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 力矩 (zh) (lìjǔ)

• Czech: moment síly m
• Dutch: moment (nl) m
• Esperanto: momanto
• Estonian: moment (et)
• Finnish: momentti (fi)
• French: moment (fr) m
• German: Moment (de) m
• Greek: ροπή (el) f (ropí)

• Japanese: モーメント (mōmento)
• Korean: 모멘트 (momenteu)
• Latvian: moments m
• Norwegian: moment (no)
• Polish: moment siły m
• Portuguese: momento (pt) m
• Russian: моме́нт си́лы m (momént síly)
• Slovene: navor m
• Swedish: moment (sv) c, kraftmoment (sv) c, vridmoment (sv) c
• Thai: โมเมนต์
• Turkish: moment (tr)
• Vietnamese: mô men

References

• 1897 Universal Dictionary of the English Language, v 3 p 3174. ("The smallest portion of time; an instant." is a direct quote from this Dictionary.)

Further reading

• moment on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• montem

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin mōmentum.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /moˈment/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /muˈmen/

Noun

moment m (plural moments)

1. moment (specific instant or time)
   • […] el català, malgrat tot, viu un moment de glòria efímera durant els darrers anys del segle XVIII i primers del XIX.

     Catalan, in spite of everything, had a moment of glory for the last years of the 18^th Century and the first ones of the 19^th.

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Czech

Noun

moment m

1. moment (specific instant or time)

Related terms

• See motiv

Further reading

• moment in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• moment in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin momentum.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

moment n (plural momenten, diminutive momentje n)

1. moment (very brief period of time)

---

French

Etymology

From Latin mōmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔ.mɑ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

moment m (plural moments)

1. moment (point in time)
2. moment (short period of time)
3. a while

   Ça fait un moment que je l'attends

   I've been waiting for him for a while

4. (physics, mechanics) moment, momentum

Derived terms

• en ce moment
• pour le moment
• au moment où

See also

• instant

Further reading

• “moment” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Friulian

Etymology

From Latin mōmentum.

Noun

moment m (plural moments)

1. moment, instant

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin momentum, from movere

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʊˈmɛnt/

Noun

moment n (definite singular momentet, indefinite plural moment, definite plural momenta)

1. element, variable, contributing factor or circumstance

   Det er mange moment som spelar inn her.

   There are many variables at play here.

2. (physics) moment of force

References

• “moment” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔ.mɛnt/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

moment m inan

1. (physics) moment

   moment bezwładności – moment of inertia

   moment gnący / moment zginający – bending moment

   moment pędu – angular momentum, moment of momentum

   moment siły – moment of force

   moment skręcający – twisting moment

Declension

declension of moment

	singular	plural
nominative	moment	momenty
genitive	momentu	momentów
dative	momentowi	momentom
accusative	moment	momenty
instrumental	momentem	momentami
locative	momencie	momentach
vocative	momencie	momenty

Further reading

• moment in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French moment, from Latin momentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [moˈment]

Noun

moment n (plural momente)

1. moment (brief period of time) (clarification of this definition is needed)

Declension

declension of moment

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) moment	momentul	(niște) momente	momentele
genitive/dative	(unui) moment	momentului	(unor) momente	momentelor
vocative	momentule		momentelor

See also

• clipă
• secundă