momentous

momentous

English

Etymology

From moment +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /məʊˈmɛn.təs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /moʊˈmɛn.təs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntəs

Adjective

momentous (comparative more momentous, superlative most momentous)

1. Outstanding in importance, of great consequence.
   • 1725, Daniel Defoe, Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business:

     The reason why I did not publish this book till the end of the last sessions of parliament was, because I did not care to interfere with more momentous affairs.

   • 1831, James Fenimore Cooper, Homeward Bound, ch. 31:

     "It has been a momentous month, and I hope we shall all retain healthful recollections of it as long as we live."

   • 1902, Joseph Conrad, The End of the Tether, ch. 3:

     What to the other parties was merely the sale of a ship was to him a momentous event involving a radically new view of existence.

   • 2007 July 1, Richard Dawkins, "Inferior Design," New York Times (retrieved 19 Nov 2013):

     Natural selection is arguably the most momentous idea ever to occur to a human mind, because it — alone as far as we know — explains the elegant illusion of design that pervades the living kingdoms and explains, in passing, us.

Derived terms

• momentously
• momentousness

Translations

of outstanding importance or great consequence

Arabic: جَسِيم‎ (ar) (jasīm) Armenian: կարևոր (hy) (karewor) Old Armenian: մեծ (mec) Azerbaijani: mühüm (az) Basque: erabakigarri, garrantzitsu Bulgarian: много важен (bg) (mnogo važen) Catalan: crucial (ca), crític (ca) m, decisiu (ca) m, definitiu (ca) m, significatiu (ca) m Czech: důležitý (cs) m, významný (cs) m, závažný (cs) m Esperanto: gravega Estonian: pöördeline (et) Finnish: merkittävä (fi), merkityksellinen (fi), järisyttävä (fi), käänteentekevä French: capital (fr), considérable (fr), fatidique (fr), primordial (fr) m, essentiel (fr) m, substantiel (fr) m Galician: momentoso m, capital (gl), crucial, primordial (gl), transcendental German: wichtig (de), bedeutsam (de), folgenreich (de), folgenschwer (de), denkwürdig (de), gewichtig (de) Hebrew: חשוב‎ (he) m (khashuv), רב חשיבות‎ m (rav khashivut) Hungarian: jelentős (hu), nagy jelentőségű/horderejű Ido: grava (io), importanta (io) Italian: cruciale (it) m or f, critico (it) m, importante (it) m or f, fondamentale (it) m or f, epocale m or f Japanese: 重大な (ja) (じゅうだいな, jūdai na) Korean: 중대하다 (ko) (jungdaehada) Latin: magnus (la) m Manx: frioosagh Occitan: important (oc), considerable (oc), capital (oc), essencial (oc), fondamental (oc) Polish: doniosły (pl) m, ważny (pl), znaczący (pl), wielkiej wagi m Portuguese: momentoso m, capital (pt), crítico (pt) m, crucial (pt), importante (pt) m or f, memorável (pt) Romanian: însemnat (ro) Russian: ва́жный (ru) (vážnyj), знаменательный (ru) (znamenatelʹnyj) Spanish: importante (es), crucial, memorable (es) Sanskrit: गुरु (sa) (guru) Swedish: betydelsefull (sv), viktig (sv) Turkish: mühim (tr), önemli (tr) Vietnamese: quan trọng (vi), trọng yếu (vi)

See also

• turning point/crossroads/watershed (English noun-equivalents)

Anagrams

• mesonotum