displacement

American  

[dis-pleys-muhnt] / dɪsˈpleɪs mənt /

noun

• displacements
  plural

1. the act of displacing.

2. the state of being displaced or the amount or degree to which something is displaced.

3. Psychology, Psychoanalysis. the transfer of an emotion from its original focus to another object, person, or situation.

4. Physics.

   1. the displacing in space of one mass by another.

   2. the weight or the volume of fluid displaced by a floating or submerged body.

   3. the linear or angular distance in a given direction between a body or point and a reference position.

   4. the distance of an oscillating body from its central position or point of equilibrium at any given moment.

5. Machinery, Automotive.

   1. the volume of the space through which a piston travels during a single stroke in an engine, pump, or the like.

   2. the total volume of the space traversed by all the pistons.

6. Nautical. the amount of water that a vessel displaces, expressed in displacement tons.

7. Geology. the offset of rocks caused by movement along a fault.

8. electric displacement.

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displacement British  

/ dɪsˈpleɪsmənt /

noun

1. the act of displacing or the condition of being displaced

2. the weight or volume displaced by a floating or submerged body in a fluid

3. chem another name for substitution

4. the volume displaced by the piston of a reciprocating pump or engine

5. psychoanal the transferring of emotional feelings from their original object to one that disguises their real nature

6. geology the distance any point on one side of a fault plane has moved in relation to a corresponding point on the opposite side

7. astronomy an apparent change in position of a body, such as a star

8.  s.  maths the distance measured in a particular direction from a reference point

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displacement Scientific  

/ dĭs-plās′mənt /

1. Chemistry A chemical reaction in which an atom, radical, or molecule replaces another in a compound.

2. Physics A vector, or the magnitude of a vector, that points from an initial position (of a body or reference frame) to a subsequent position.

3. The weight or volume of a fluid displaced by a floating body, used especially as a measurement of the weight or bulk of ships.

4. The volume displaced by a single stroke of a piston in an engine or pump.

5. Geology

   1. The relative movement between the two sides of a geologic fault.

   2. The distance between the two sides of a fault.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• predisplacement
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• displacements
  plural

Etymology

Origin of displacement

First recorded in 1605–15; displace + -ment

Explanation

Displacement occurs when one party unfairly or inappropriately replaces another. If you arrive at work to find someone else sitting at your desk, you might want to complain to your boss about your recent displacement. Displacement can be a depressing topic, given that it often involves people being forced to leave somewhere where they belong. However, for a more cheerful take on this word, put your foot in the bathtub and watch the water level rise. Scientifically speaking, your foot is causing displacement of the water. It was this observation that led Archimedes to develop his famous principle about buoyancy (and, perhaps more famously, to run through the streets naked in celebration).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

displacement displacements

The BBC spoke with governments and scientists about the measures being taken globally to reduce the risk of deaths, displacement and environmental damage.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

A rising number of people are wary that AI will take their jobs, even though such displacement largely hasn’t shown up yet in jobs data.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

Aid agencies warn that displacement can create additional risks for women and girls because of overcrowding, shared facilities and loss of privacy.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

Plenty of companies from that era ran into trouble, culminating with the displacement of Myspace by a new leader, Facebook.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

That had been Nicholas’s job for all of his short life, and, as his mother recalled, he did not take displacement well.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

This may not prove true for the displacements AI is beginning to trigger.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025

This financialization of property led to a wave of speculation, evictions and displacements citywide as developers and landlords began to realize they could get more profit from their holdings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025

Some use donkey carts to haul what possessions have survived after their multiple displacements.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2025

U.S. officials voiced concerns over the how a major operation in the city would affect the around 1.3 million Palestinians who were sheltering there after eight months of violence and multiple displacements.

From Salon ● May 30, 2024

Even for Barnard’s Star, the investigation must be painstaking, a search for microscopic displacements of position on photographic plates exposed at the telescope over a period of decades.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan