Link Centre Dictionary

impetus

im·pe·tus

UK/ˈɪm.pə.təs/ US/ɪmˈpiː.təs/ rare

noun

1.

a force that moves something along

Synonyms
2.

the act of applying force suddenly

  • “the impulse knocked him over”
Synonyms

Origin

Borrowed from Latin impetus (“a rushing upon, an attack, assault, onset”), from impetō (“to rush upon, attack”), from in- (“upon”) + petō (“to seek, fall upon”).

Phrases

  • wind at one's back

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.