acceleration

American  

[ak-sel-uh-ray-shuhn, ik-] / ækˌsɛl əˈreɪ ʃən, ɪk- /

noun

• accelerations
  plural

1. the act of accelerating; increase of speed or velocity.

2. a change in velocity.

3. Mechanics. the time rate of change of velocity with respect to magnitude or direction; the derivative of velocity with respect to time.

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acceleration British  

/ ækˌsɛləˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of accelerating or the state of being accelerated

2. a. the rate of increase of speed or the rate of change of velocity

3. a. the power to accelerate

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acceleration Scientific  

/ ăk-sĕl′ə-rā′shən /

1. The rate of change of the velocity of a moving body. An increase in the magnitude of the velocity of a moving body (an increase in speed) is called a positive acceleration; a decrease in speed is called a negative acceleration. Acceleration, like velocity, is a vector quantity, so any change in the direction of a moving body is also an acceleration. A moving body that follows a curved path, even when its speed remains constant, is undergoing acceleration.

2. See more at gravity relativity

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acceleration Cultural  

1. A change in the velocity of an object.

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Discover More

The most familiar kind of acceleration is a change in the speed of an object. An object that stays at the same speed but changes direction, however, is also being accelerated. (See force.)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonacceleration
  noun
• overacceleration
  noun
• reacceleration
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• accelerations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of acceleration

First recorded in 1525–35, acceleration is from the Latin word accelerātiōn- (stem of accelerātiō ). See accelerate, -ion

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Explanation

Acceleration is the act of increasing speed. When you buy a sports car, you want one that has great acceleration, so it can go from zero to 60 miles an hour in no time. Acceleration comes from the Latin word accelerationem, which means "a hastening." When you hasten, you hurry, so acceleration is a speeding-up. Maybe you are walking to an appointment and realize you will be late. You pick up your pace — that's acceleration. If the rain on a stormy day begins to come down faster, that too is acceleration. As you can see, acceleration isn't just for cars.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

acceleration accelerations

A high year-earlier comparison base is likely to limit further acceleration, they added.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

This was a notable acceleration from 3.4 percent in August, in one of the last major economic reports before the November 3 vote.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

“Given that UNH’s guidance assumes an acceleration in medical-cost trends, we believe there is more upside potential to earnings than downside risk,” Mizuho Securities analyst Ann Hynes told investors on Monday.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Work published in Machine Learning with Applications in September 2026 explored another possibility: using artificial intelligence to estimate knee loading from acceleration measurements collected at the foot.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

After nearly three days of weightlessness, I had forgotten what acceleration felt like, except for those brief bursts from the Agena.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins

Similar surveys pointed to accelerations in India and Japan, though private sector growth lost momentum in Australia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

On a Thursday morning in June for example, the car had been driven 7.33 miles in 18 minutes; there had been two rapid accelerations and two incidents of hard braking.

From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2024

In Physics of Fluids, from AIP Publishing, researchers from the University of Utah report snowflake accelerations in atmospheric turbulence.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 19, 2023

Some of Dr Wyss-Coray's earlier work suggests the biological ageing process is not steady but comes in bursts, with some rapid accelerations in people's mid-30s, early-60s and late-70s.

From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2023

We are comfortable with accelerations of 1 g; we have grown up with 1 g.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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