acceleration

American  

[ak-sel-uh-rey-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

Etymology

Origin of acceleration

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

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

Little g refers to the acceleration an object experiences because of the gravitational attraction of a nearby large body such as Earth.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Authorities are also reviewing the SUV’s event data recorder to determine Rios’ speed, braking and acceleration in the seconds before the deadly crash.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

Amodei warned that the acceleration of RSI introduces a spate of new risks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

It predicted a further acceleration in rent rises to 4% or 5% by the end of the year, although that still roughly matched the average annual rise in workers' earnings.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Her water has broken . . . . . . while out on the ice the Packard’s headlamps brighten with each acceleration, as more juice flows from the battery.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Similar surveys pointed to accelerations in India, Japan and Australia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

It included the dates of 640 trips, their start and end times, the distance driven and an accounting of any speeding, hard braking or sharp accelerations.

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

Under extremely strong gravitational accelerations, even light is affected.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan