movement

[moov-muhnt]

noun

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.

movement

/ 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

movement

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.

Other Word Forms

• countermovement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of movement¹

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

Synonym Study

See motion.

Example Sentences

Even many of the most prominent leaders of the original conversion therapy movement have come to admit that the whole thing was a pile of bunk.

From Salon

Greene and Greene would produce over a hundred “California Bungalows,” including their larger “Ultimate Bungalows,” and the Craftsman fever that followed would make Pasadena ground zero for California Craftsman, and the Craftsman movement nationwide.

From Los Angeles Times

Nigerian Modernism runs at the Tate Modern from Wednesday until 10 May next year, and hopes to illuminate a movement that has long been underrepresented on the global stage.

From BBC

Two years on, the split is sharper than ever between Hamas loyalists who still defend the movement to the core, and a war-weary majority of Gazans who have lost patience with endless destruction and despair.

From BBC

Every movement becomes evidence in a cultural trial.

From BBC

Related Words

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