# moment
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English moment, from Old French moment, from Latin mōmentum. Doublet of momentum and movement.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈməʊmənt/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈmoʊmənt/, /ˈmolmɛnt/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: mo‧ment

### Noun

moment (countable and uncountable, plural moments)
* A particular point, or relatively small region.
** A particular point of space; a spot.
    Synonyms: point, spot
*** 1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread , chapter 7, third paragraph:...over everything there lay a deposit of heavy white dust, which was only blown off one moment to thicken on another.
** A particular point of time; an instant.
    Synonyms: instant, minute; see also Thesaurus:point in time
*** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.
*** 1976, Richard Duprey, Duel on the Wind , part 4, chapter 1:"You know, we all have our own lives to live. Now and then we get confused, we become weak and vulnerable. We have to look around for help. Sometimes we get lucky and there's someone who loves us to support us, to help us along. We have a right, being human, to those moments of weakness. We have a right to get confused and ask for help. [...] But when that help is offered and accepted, we don't have a right to remain confused forever, to keep those who help us standing by in a kind of limbo..."
* A brief, unspecified amount of time.
    Synonyms: stound, instant, trice; see also Thesaurus:moment
    Wait a moment, while I lock the front door.
** 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] , and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
** 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.
** 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.
* (figurative) Weight or importance.
** c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii], line 67:In deep designs, in matter of great moment, / No less importing than our general good.
** 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), page [176]:However, upon a ſtrict Review, I blotted out ſeveral Paſſages of leſs Moment which were in my firſt Copy, for fear of being cenſured as tedious and trifling, whereof Travellers are often, perhaps not without Juſtice, accuſed.
** 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Second Stain, Norton, published 2005, page 1192:The document in question is of such immense importance that its publication might very easily – I might almost say probably – lead to European complications of the utmost moment.
** 1941 May, “Notes and News: William Stroudley”, in Railway Magazine, page 234:As to any suggestion that Stroudley's engines were not free-running at high speed, this was of little moment with 60 m.p.h. laid down as the limit at that time.
** 1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 274:Britannia therefore has the advantage over only two classes, the rebuilt "Scots" and the "V2s", and in only two respects, maximum axle load (which is important) and weight of tender (which is of little moment).
* (physics, mechanics) Ellipsis of moment of force.
    Synonym: torque
* (historical, unit) A definite period of time, specifically one-tenth of a point, or one-fortieth or one-fiftieth of an hour.
* (neurology, informal) A petit mal episode; such a spell.
* (colloquial) A fit; a brief tantrum.
* (mathematics) An infinitesimal change in a varying quantity; an increment or decrement.
* (mathematics) A quantitative measure of the shape of a set of points.
    If the points represent mass, then the zeroth moment is the total mass, the first moment divided by the total mass is the center of mass, and the second moment is the rotational inertia.
* (Internet slang, frequently derogatory, usually preceded by a noun) An embarrassing event, supposed to be characteristic of some person, group, or situation.
    woman moment
    Reddit moment

#### Coordinate terms

* millennium
* century
* decade
* year
* month
* week
* day
* hour
* minute
* moment
* second
* millisecond
* microsecond
* nanosecond
* picosecond
* femtosecond
* attosecond
* zeptosecond
* yoctosecond

#### Derived terms

* aha! moment
* aha moment
* any moment now
* at a moment's notice
* at any given moment
* at the last moment
* at the moment
* at this moment in time
* big-lipped alligator moment
* blonde moment
* blond moment
* branding moment
* bruh moment
* by the moment
* Ceausescu moment
* Ceaușescu moment
* central moment
* Condor moment
* defining moment
* dipole moment
* driveway moment
* eureka moment
* flashbulb moment
* for the moment
* from moment to moment
* from this moment on
* Hallmark moment
* have a moment
* having a moment
* heated gamer moment
* heated gaming moment
* Hollywood moment
* in the heat of the moment
* in the moment
* Kodak moment
* last moment
* light-bulb moment
* live in the moment
* London moment
* macaca moment
* magic moment
* magnetic moment
* man of the moment
* melting moment
* Minsky moment
* Mintie moment
* moist moment
* moment arm
* momentary
* moment by moment
* momentful
* moment-generating function
* moment in the sun
* momentless
* momently
* moment of clarity
* moment of force
* moment of glory
* moment of inertia
* moment of silence
* moment of truth
* momentous
* momentously
* momentousness
* never a dull moment
* nigger moment
* not a moment too soon
* of the moment
* one moment
* on the spur of the moment
* Perry Mason moment
* polar moment of inertia
* Portillo moment
* pseudomoment
* psychological moment
* Ratner moment
* second moment of area
* second moment of inertia
* seismic moment
* senior moment
* single-minded branding moment
* Sister Souljah moment
* spin magnetic moment
* spur-of-the-moment
* spur of the moment
* Sputnik moment
* supreme moment
* teachable moment
* timeless moment
* tumbleweed moment
* watershed moment

#### See also

* torque

### References

* 1897 Universal Dictionary of the English Language, v 3 p 3174. ("The smallest portion of time; an instant." is a direct quote from this Dictionary.)

### Further reading

* moment on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* montem

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mōmentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [muˈmen]
* IPA: (Balearic, Valencia) [moˈment]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ent

### Noun

moment m (plural moments)
* moment (specific instant or time)
    […] el català, malgrat tot, viu un moment de glòria efímera durant els darrers anys del segle XVIII i primers del XIX.Catalan, in spite of everything, had a moment of ephemeral glory in the last years of the 18th century and the first ones of the 19th.

#### Derived terms

* de moment
* momentet

### Further reading

* “moment” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “moment”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “moment” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “moment” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈmomɛnt]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

moment m inan
* moment (specific instant or time)

#### Related terms

* See motiv

### Further reading

* “moment”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “moment”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch moment, from Middle French moment, from Latin momentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /moːˈmɛnt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: mo‧ment
* Rhymes: -ɛnt

### Noun

moment n (plural momenten, diminutive momentje n)
* moment (very brief period of time)
    Synonym: ogenblik
* (physics) moment of force, moment
    Synonym: krachtmoment

#### Derived terms

* hoekmoment
* impulsmoment
* Kodakmoment
* krachtmoment
* momentaan
* momenteel
* momentopname
* traagheidsmoment

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: moment
* → Indonesian: momen

## French
### Etymology

From Latin mōmentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mɔ.mɑ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

moment m (plural moments)
* moment (point in time)
* moment (short period of time)
* a while
    Ça fait un moment que je l’attendsI've been waiting for him for a while
* (physics, mechanics) moment, momentum

#### Derived terms

* à tout moment
* au moment où
* c’est le moment ou jamais
* du moment que
* d’un moment à l’autre
* en ce moment
* moment de vérité
* pour le moment

#### Descendants

* → Persian: ممان (momân)

### See also

* instant

### Further reading

* “moment”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Friulian
### Etymology

From Latin mōmentum.

### Noun

moment m (plural moments)
* moment, instant

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Latin momentum, from movere.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mʊˈmɛnt/

### Noun

moment n (definite singular momentet, indefinite plural moment, definite plural momenta)
* element, variable, contributing factor or circumstance
    Det er mange moment som spelar inn her.There are many variables at play here.
* (physics) moment of force

### References

* “moment” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Latin mōmentum.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (Béarn):(file)

### Noun

moment m (plural moments)
* moment

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin mōmentum. First attested in 1592.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmɔ.mɛnt/
* (Middle Polish) IPA: /ˈmɔ.mɛnt/, /ˈmɔ.ment/
* Audio 1:(file)
* Audio 2:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔmɛnt
* Syllabification: mo‧ment

### Noun

moment m inan (diminutive momencik)
* moment (short period of time)
    Synonym: chwila
* moment (specific point or period in time)
    Synonym: chwila
* moment (short period of development or continuance of something) [with w (+ locative) ‘in what’]
* (physics) moment (turning effect of a force applied to a rotational system at a distance from the axis of rotation)
    moment bezwładności ― moment of inertia
    moment gnący / moment zginający ― bending moment
    moment pędu ― angular momentum, moment of momentum
    moment siły ― moment of force
    moment skręcający ― twisting moment
* (film, humorous, television) sex scene (segment in a movie in which characters have sex)
* (obsolete, mathematics) moment (infinitesimal change in a varying quantity; an increment or decrement)

#### Declension
### Interjection

moment
* (colloquial) wait a minute, wait a moment, wait a second (used when the speaker expects to refrain from speaking or acting for a short time)
    Synonyms: chwila, chwila moment, chwileczkę, momencik

#### Derived terms

* momentalny
* momentami

#### Descendants

* → Kashubian: mòment, mòmeńt
* → Silesian: mōmynt

### Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), moment is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 12 times in scientific texts, 11 times in news, 16 times in essays, 37 times in fiction, and 15 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 91 times, making it the 701st most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

### References

* ↑ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “moment”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
* ↑ Stanisław Dubisz, editor (2003), “moment”, in Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego [Universal dictionary of the Polish language]‎ (in Polish), volumes 1-4, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN SA, →ISBN
* ↑ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “moment”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
* ↑ Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “moment”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
* ↑ Ida Kurcz (1990) “moment”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 253

### Further reading

* moment in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* moment in Polish dictionaries at PWN
* “MOMENT”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 13.10.2008
* Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “moment”, in Słownik języka polskiego
* Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “moment”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
* J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “moment”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 1034

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French moment, from Latin mōmentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /moˈment/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ent
* Hyphenation: mo‧ment

### Noun

moment n (plural momente)
* moment (brief length of time)
    de moment ― momentary
    pentru un moment ― for a moment
* moment (definite point in time)
    în momentul de față ― at the present moment
* the time, the right moment
    Nu e momentul pentru așa ceva.Now’s not the time for such things.
    A sosit momentul.The time has come.
* (mechanics, physics) moment
* short literary composition which captures an episode of daily life, a genre notably cultivated by Ion Luca Caragiale

#### Derived terms

* din moment ce
* din moment în moment
* în ultimul moment
* la moment
* la un moment dat
* moment cinetic
* moment dipol
* momentele subiectului
* momentul forței
* nasol momentul
* nasol momentul, mișto coliva
* pe moment
* pentru moment
* un moment

#### Derived terms

* momental
* momentos

#### Related terms

* momentan

### Further reading

* moment in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
* Iorgu Iordan, Alexandru Graur, Ion Coteanu, editors (1965), Dicționarul Limbii Române‎, volume 6, Bucharest: Academy of the Socialist Republic of Romania, pages 829–830

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Latin momentum.

### Noun

moment n
* a step in a process
    Nästa moment blir att föra in stavarna i kärnreaktornThe next step will be to insert the rods into the nuclear reactor
    ett kritiskt momenta critical step
    hinderbanans armgångsmomentthe monkey bars section of the obstacle course (the monkey bars step in the process of getting through the obstacle course)
* an independent part of some (abstract) whole; an element, a factor
* (physics) moment

#### Derived terms

* orosmoment
* överraskningsmoment

### References

* moment in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* moment in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* moment in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

## Welsh
### Pronunciation

* (North Wales) IPA: /ˈmɔmɛnt/
* (South Wales) IPA: /ˈmoːmɛnt/, /ˈmɔmɛnt/

### Noun

moment m (plural momentau)
* (physics) moment

#### Derived terms

* moment ddeubol (“dipole moment”)
* moment momentwm (“moment of momentum”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.