velocity

[ vuh-los-i-tee ]

/ vəˈlɒs ɪ ti /

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noun, plural ve·loc·i·ties.

rapidity of motion or operation; swiftness; speed: a high wind velocity.

Mechanics. the time rate of change of position of a body in a specified direction.

the rate of speed with which something happens; rapidity of action or reaction.

Nearby words

Origin of velocity

First recorded in 1540–50, velocity is from the Latin word vēlōcitās speed. See velocipede, -ty²

SYNONYMS FOR velocity

1. See speed.

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

Examples from the Web for velocity

Phone lines would catch fire from the velocity and ferocity of his words.
David Garth, the Consultant Who Talked Up to Voters|Jeff Greenfield|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Increase and diversify the velocity of your messages to a maddening pace.
How the Wall Street Protesters Win|Lee Siegel|October 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST
But Galston says what made the difference for Reagan was also the velocity of the change.
Obama Bets 2012 on Factory Jobs|Eleanor Clift|July 1, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The velocity and density of everything just boggles my mind.
The David Foster Wallace Generation|Seth Colter Walls|April 7, 2011|DAILY BEAST

When a story achieves that kind of velocity, everyone wants to jump in.
The Media's Pat-Down Frenzy|Howard Kurtz|November 22, 2010|DAILY BEAST
In a frog, he found the velocity to be about eighty feet a second, or less than one-thirteenth of the velocity of sound in air.
The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6|E. Rameur
Falling from the neutral point, the Projectile should strike the Earth with a velocity of more than 25,000 miles an hour!
All Around the Moon|Jules Verne
The velocity of a severe storm is 36 miles an hour; that of a hurricane, 80 miles an hour.
Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889|Barkham Burroughs
The principal shaft makes two hundred revolutions per minute, but the velocity of that of the pumps is but fifty revolutions.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 415, December 15, 1883|Various
They are no more agreed as to its composition after it reaches us than as to its velocity.
Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith|Robert Patterson

British Dictionary definitions for velocity

velocity

/ (vɪˈlɒsɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

speed of motion, action, or operation; rapidity; swiftness

physics a measure of the rate of motion of a body expressed as the rate of change of its position in a particular direction with time. It is measured in metres per second, miles per hour, etcSymbol: u, v, w

physics (not in technical usage) another word for speed (def. 3)

Word Origin for velocity

C16: from Latin vēlōcitās, from vēlōx swift; related to volāre to fly

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 velocity

velocity

1550a, from Latin velocitatem (nominative velocitas) "swiftness, speed," from velox (genitive velocis) "swift," of uncertain origin, perhaps related to vehere "carry" (see vehicle), or from the same root as vegetable (see vigil).

Medicine definitions for velocity