IMPETUS

n.

3 definitions — Webster’s Dictionary (1828)


1.
n.

A property possessed by a moving body in virtue of its weight and its motion; the force with which any body is driven or impelled; momentum.

2.
n.

Fig.: Impulse; incentive; vigor; force. Buckle.

3.
n.

The aititude through which a heavy body must fall to acquire a velocity equal to that with which a ball is discharged from a piece.