moment

[ moh-muhnt ]
See synonyms for: momentmoments on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an indefinitely short period of time; instant: I'll be with you in a moment.

  2. Usually the moment . the present time or any other particular time: He is busy at the moment.

  1. a definite period or stage, as in a course of events; juncture: at this moment in history.

  2. importance or consequence: a decision of great moment.

  3. a particular time or period of success, excellence, fame, etc.: His big moment came in the final game.

  4. Statistics. the mean or expected value of the product formed by multiplying together a set of one or more variates or variables each to a specified power.

  5. Philosophy.

    • an aspect of a thing.

    • Obsolete. an essential or constituent factor.

  6. Mechanics.

    • a tendency to produce motion, especially about an axis.

    • the product of a physical quantity and its directed distance from an axis: moment of area; moment of mass.

Origin of moment

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin mōmentum “motion, cause of motion,” hence, “influence, importance, essential factor, moment of time,” from movimentum (unattested), equivalent to mō- (variant stem of the verb movēre move) + -mentum -ment

synonym study For moment

1. See minute1. 4. See importance.

Other words for moment

Words Nearby moment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use moment in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for moment

moment

/ (ˈməʊmənt) /


noun
  1. a short indefinite period of time: he'll be here in a moment

  2. a specific instant or point in time: at that moment the doorbell rang

  1. the moment the present point of time: at the moment it's fine

  2. import, significance, or value: a man of moment

  3. physics

    • a tendency to produce motion, esp rotation about a point or axis

    • the product of a physical quantity, such as force or mass, and its distance from a fixed reference point: See also moment of inertia

  4. statistics the mean of a specified power of the deviations of all the values of a variable in its frequency distribution. The power of the deviations indicates the order of the moment and the deviations may be from the origin (giving a moment about the origin) or from the mean (giving a moment about the mean)

Origin of moment

1
C14: from Old French, from Latin mōmentum, from movēre to move

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with moment

moment

In addition to the idiom beginning with moment

  • moment of truth

also see:

  • at this point (moment)
  • every minute (moment) counts
  • for the moment
  • have one's moments
  • just a minute (moment)
  • live for the moment
  • never a dull moment
  • not for a moment
  • of the moment
  • on the spur of the moment
  • weak moment

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.