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

"The quarter also showed sequential acceleration, including at Gucci, driven by the actions taken over recent months," he added.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

There was a rapid acceleration of legal knowledge among nonlawyers.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

“The knee jerk is likely disappointment, given the lack of acceleration in both billed business and revenue growth,” Foran said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

The increase is "primarily due to an acceleration in the delivery of capacity to meet growing demand," Ashkenazi continued.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

Because Iris was an unmanned mission, there was no cap on acceleration.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Similar surveys pointed to accelerations in India and Japan, though private sector growth lost momentum in Australia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

On a Thursday morning in June for example, the car had been driven 7.33 miles in 18 minutes; there had been two rapid accelerations and two incidents of hard braking.

From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2024

Inertial measurement unit data is processed to determine hard braking, hard accelerations and hard turns and GPS data.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 29, 2024

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