movement

American  

[moov-muhnt] / ˈmuv mənt /

noun

• movements
  plural

1. the act, process, or result of moving.

   Antonyms:

   stasis, inertia

2. a particular manner or style of moving.

3. Usually movements. actions or activities, as of a person or a body of persons.

4. Military, Naval. a change of position or location of troops or ships.

5. abundance of events or incidents.

   Synonyms:

   eventfulness

6. rapid progress of events.

7. the progress of events, as in a narrative or drama.

8. Fine Arts. the suggestion of motion in a work of art, either by represented gesture in figurative painting or sculpture or by the relationship of structural elements in a design or composition.

9. a progressive development of ideas toward a particular conclusion.

   the movement of his thought.

10. a series of actions or activities intended or tending toward a particular end.

    the movement toward universal suffrage.

11. the course, tendency, or trend of affairs in a particular field.

12. a diffusely organized or heterogeneous group of people or organizations tending toward or favoring a generalized common goal.

    the antislavery movement; the realistic movement in art.

13. the price change in the market of some commodity or security.

    an upward movement in the price of butter.

14. bowel movement.

15. the working parts or a distinct portion of the working parts of a mechanism, as of a watch.

16. Music.

    1. a principal division or section of a sonata, symphony, or the like.

    2. motion; rhythm; time; tempo.

17. Prosody. rhythmical structure or character.

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movement British  

/ ˈmuːvmənt /

noun

1. 1. the act, process, or result of moving

   2. an instance of moving

2. the manner of moving

3. 1. a group of people with a common ideology, esp a political or religious one

   2. the organized action of such a group

4. a trend or tendency in a particular sphere

5. the driving and regulating mechanism of a watch or clock

6. (often plural) a person's location and activities during a specific time

7. 1. the evacuation of the bowels

   2. the matter evacuated

8. music a principal self-contained section of a symphony, sonata, etc, usually having its own structure

9. tempo or pace, as in music or literature

10. fine arts the appearance of motion in painting, sculpture, etc

11. prosody the rhythmic structure of verse

12. a positional change by one or a number of military units

13. a change in the market price of a security or commodity

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movement Cultural  

1. In music, a self-contained division of a long work; each movement usually has its own tempo. A long, undivided composition is said to be in one movement.

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Synonym Usage

See motion.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• countermovement
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• movements
  plural

Etymology

Origin of movement

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French; see move, -ment

Explanation

The noun movement means a change of position or location. If you're watching a play, you might notice that an actor's repeated movement from one side of the stage to the other shows her character's nervousness. A campaign to create some change or achieve a goal is another kind of movement, like the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. A major section of a musical piece is also called a movement. Each movement of a symphony can have a different tempo and feel, working to build the piece toward a dramatic finish. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony has four movements.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

movement movements

Dara O'Shea: Led from the front as always but Ipswich's defence struggled against the movement of Isak and the creation of Gakpo.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

The biological changes were accompanied by improvements in movement.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

The movement of people out of those communities could drive the total number of homeless people displaced even higher, the researchers said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

The FinEd50 coalition, a movement backed by both nonprofits and corporations, is working to expand and improve financial education.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026

I’m sorry about the movement and what it means for us as a whole.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

They do so in a quantitative way, screening for stocks whose rolling six-month, one-day percentage change is the inverse of the S&P 500 daily’s movements.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

Dame Priti wrote on social media that she would be leaving the role to take up a new position designed to "strengthen links with sister parties and centre right movements around the world".

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

Their physical development points to long-term practice involving demanding movements such as drawing a bowstring or controlling a weapon.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

Criminals walking the street are less likely to commit crimes if they know their movements will be on camera.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

We all climbed into the car with jerky, unnatural movements like we’d recently been cut out of full-body casts and hadn’t yet become reacquainted with our full range of motion.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

• change
• crusade
• demonstration
• evolution
• faction
• flow
• group
• organization
• party
• shift
• tendency
• transfer
• trend
• unrest