my professor has requested us to find out where the word "moment" evoled from. the moment of a force. the edimology of it. i have tried to locate this, and have since not found it. any suggestions?
moment -
1340, "very brief portion of time, instant," in moment of time, from O.Fr. moment, from L. momentum "movement, moving power," also "instant, importance," contraction of *movimentum, from movere "to move" (see move). Some (but not O.E.D.) explain the sense evolution of the L. word by notion of a particle so small it would just "move" the pointer of a scale, which led to the transf. sense of "minute time division." Sense of "importance, 'weight' " is attested in Eng. from 1522. Momentous formed 1656 in Eng., to carry the sense of "important" while momentary (1526) kept the meaning "of an instant of time." Phrase never a dull moment first recorded 1889 in Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat." Phrase moment of truth first recorded 1932 in Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon," from Sp. el momento de la verdad, the final sword-thrust in a bull-fight.
Thank you for using the Jiskha Homework Help Forum. In case you need to quote the source of Amy's answer: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=moment&searchmode=none
This is the Online Etymology Dictionary.
need help
To find the etymology of a word, you can use etymology dictionaries or online resources. The Online Etymology Dictionary is a reliable source that provides the history and origin of words. In this case, you have already found the etymology of the word "moment" from the Online Etymology Dictionary. According to the source, the word "moment" originated in the 14th century from the Old French word "moment" and the Latin word "momentum." It initially referred to a very brief portion of time and later evolved to also mean importance or weight.
If you are looking for further information or want to explore other sources, you can try searching for "etymology of the word moment" in a search engine or consult other etymology dictionaries.