inertia
English
Etymology
From Latin inertia (“lack of art or skill, inactivity, indolence”), from iners (“unskilled, inactive”), from in- (“without, not”) + ars (“skill, art”). The modern physics sense was first used in New Latin by Johannes Kepler.
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /ɪnˈɝ.ʃə/, /ɪˈnɝ.ʃə/
Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ʃə
Noun
inertia (countable and uncountable, plural inertias or inertiae or inertiæ)
- (physics, uncountable or countable) The property of a body that resists any change to its uniform motion; equivalent to its mass.
- (figuratively) In a person, unwillingness to take action.
- 1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, OCLC 1026761782, (please specify the book or page number):
- Men […] have immense irresolution and inertia.
- 2014, Jacob Steinberg, "Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals", The Guardian, 9 March 2014:
- City had been woeful, their anger at their own inertia summed up when Samir Nasri received a booking for dissent, and they did not have a shot on target until the 66th minute.
-
- (medicine) Lack of activity; sluggishness; said especially of the uterus, when, in labour, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased.
Synonyms
- (unwillingness to take action): idleness, laziness, sloth, slothfulness
Derived terms
- inertial
- inertia welding
- moment of inertia
Related terms
- inert
- inertness
Translations
in physics
|
unwillingness to take action
|
in medicine
|
Further reading
- inertia in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- inertia in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- inertia at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- iranite
Finnish
Etymology
From Latin inertia.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈinertiɑ/, [ˈine̞rˌt̪iɑ]
- Rhymes: -iɑ
- Syllabification(key): i‧ner‧ti‧a
Noun
inertia
- inertia
- Synonyms: hitaus, vitka, jatkavuus
Declension
Inflection of inertia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | inertia | inertiat | |
genitive | inertian | inertioiden inertioitten | |
partitive | inertiaa | inertioita | |
illative | inertiaan | inertioihin | |
singular | plural | ||
nominative | inertia | inertiat | |
accusative | nom. | inertia | inertiat |
gen. | inertian | ||
genitive | inertian | inertioiden inertioitten inertiainrare | |
partitive | inertiaa | inertioita | |
inessive | inertiassa | inertioissa | |
elative | inertiasta | inertioista | |
illative | inertiaan | inertioihin | |
adessive | inertialla | inertioilla | |
ablative | inertialta | inertioilta | |
allative | inertialle | inertioille | |
essive | inertiana | inertioina | |
translative | inertiaksi | inertioiksi | |
instructive | — | inertioin | |
abessive | inertiatta | inertioitta | |
comitative | — | inertioineen |
Possessive forms of inertia (type kulkija) | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | singular | plural |
1st person | inertiani | inertiamme |
2nd person | inertiasi | inertianne |
3rd person | inertiansa |
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *enartjā. Related to iners (“without skill; inactive”), from in- (“not”) + ars (“art, skill”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /iˈner.ti.a/, [ɪˈnɛrt̪iä]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /iˈner.t͡si.a/, [iˈnɛrt̪͡s̪iä]
Noun
inertia f (genitive inertiae); first declension
- want of art or skill, unskillfulness, ignorance
- Antonyms: calliditās, sapientia
- (by extension) inactivity, idleness, laziness, indolence
- Synonyms: pigritia, sēgnitia, ignāvia, dēsidia, sōcordia, ōtium
- Antonyms: impigritās, alacritās, strēnuitās, āctīvitās
Declension
First-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | inertia | inertiae |
Genitive | inertiae | inertiārum |
Dative | inertiae | inertiīs |
Accusative | inertiam | inertiās |
Ablative | inertiā | inertiīs |
Vocative | inertia | inertiae |
Related terms
- iners
- inersitūdō
- inerticulus
Descendants
- Catalan: inèrcia
- English: inertia
- French: inertie
- Galician: inercia
- Italian: inerzia
- Occitan: inercia
- Portuguese: inércia
- Romanian: inerție
- Russian: ине́рция (inércija)
- Spanish: inercia
References
- “inertia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “inertia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- inertia in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- inertia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
inertia m (definite singular inertiaen, indefinite plural inertiaer, definite plural inertiaene)
- form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by inerti