Velocity Meaning
/vəˈlɒsəti/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA vector quantity that denotes the rate of change of position with respect to time, combining speed with a directional component.
nounA rapidity of motion.
Sentence Examples
The velocity of light is about 186,000 miles per second.
Light travels at a velocity of 186,000 miles per second.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The car's high ____ caused it to cover 60 miles in just one hour.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scientists measured the ____ of the wind during the storm to see how fast it was actually moving today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French vélocité, from Latin vēlōcitās (“speed”), from vēlōx (“fast”), thus a doublet of veloce.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Usually, however, confluence is associated with an increase in air velocity and diffluence with a decrease. In the intermediate case, confluence is balanced by an increase in wind velocity and diffluence by a decrease in velocity."
— 2004, Roger Barry, Richard Chorley, Roger G. Barry, Atmosphere, Weather and Climate, page 118:
"Such angular distances imply undecelerated ejecta knot transverse velocities of 15,600 and 12,700 km/s respectively, assuming an explosion date ~1670 AD and a distance of 3.4 kpc."
— 2015, Robert A. Fesen, Dan Milisavljevic, “An HST Survey of the Highest-Velocity Ejecta in Cassiopeia A”, in arXiv:
"When an ultrasonic beam is fired at the microcannons, the emulsion evaporates, expanding rapidly into gas. This creates enough force to push the nanobullets out at velocities reaching several metres per second."
— 2016 February 1, Tom Whipple, “Microcannon firing nanobullets: the future of targeted medicine”, in The Times:
"By combining the data from multiple telescopes, astronomers determined the star’s position and velocity in space, allowing them to predict that it will exit the Milky Way at some point."
— 2024 August 21, Ashley Strickland, “An unusual object is moving so fast it could escape the Milky Way. Scientists aren’t certain what it is”, in CNN:
"Over the winter-solid Roads, goes a great seething,— of mounted younger Gentlemen riding together by the dozens upon rented horses, Express Messengers in love with pure Velocity, Disgruntl'd Suitors with Pistols stuff'd in their Spatterdashes, seal'd Waggons not even a western Black-Boy would think of detaining."
— 1997, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 39, in Mason & Dixon, 1st US edition, New York: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, part Two: America, page 395:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The car's high ____ caused it to cover 60 miles in just one hour.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scientists measured the ____ of the wind during the storm to see how fast it was actually moving today.