celerity

[suh-ler-i-tee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR celerity ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

swiftness; speed.

Origin of celerity

1480–90; earlier celerite < Middle French < Latin celeritās, equivalent to celer swift + -itās -ity

Synonyms for celerity

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR celerity ON THESAURUS.COM

alacrity, dispatch, briskness. See speed.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for celerity

hustle, velocity, expedition, fleetness, alacrity, dispatch, gait, quickness, haste, speediness, hurry, speed, swiftness, rapidity, promptness, briskness, legerity, vivacity

Examples from the Web for celerity

Historical Examples of celerity

Celerity, valor, endurance, they were his iridescent neck and tail feathers.
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable
The pot-boy's movements resembled those of a tortoise in celerity.
A Son of Hagar
Sir Hall Caine
I let them both go with a celerity which to this day astonishes my memory.
The Mirror of the Sea
Joseph Conrad
They marveled at the celerity with which the fort was put up.
The Wonder Island Boys: The Tribesmen
Roger Finlay
He practised before a mirror and was satisfied with his celerity.
Jack O' Judgment
Edgar Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for celerity

celerity

noun

rapidity; swiftness; speed

Word Origin for celerity

C15: from Old French celerite, from Latin celeritās, from celer swift

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for celerity

late 15c., from Old French celeritee (14c., Modern French célérité), from Latin celeritatem (nominative celeritas) "swiftness," from celer "swift," from possible PIE root *kel- "to drive, set in swift motion" (cf. Sanskrit carati "goes," Greek keles "fast horse or ship," keleuthos "journey, road," Lithuanian sulys "a gallop," Old High German scelo "stallion").