Impetus - plus, trending lookups galore!

[Merriam-Webster]( WORD OF THE DAY [February 25, 2019](#none) impetus [Audio pronunciation]( noun | IM-puh-tus Definition 1 a : a driving force : [impulse]( b : [incentive](, [stimulus]( c : stimulation or encouragement resulting in increased activity 2 : the property possessed by a moving body [in virtue of]( its mass and its motion — used of bodies moving suddenly or violently to indicate the origin and intensity of the motion Scroll down for more about impetus TRENDING NOW: [crosshair]( [feckless]( [emergency]( [national emergency]( [SEE ALL [>]]( PEOPLE ARE READING # [The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 2/22/19]( # ['Minion' — Video Word of the Day 2/22/2019]( # ['Hoopla' — Video Word of the Day 2/21/2019]( # ['Obsequious' — Video Word of the Day 2/20/2019]( WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE [What did you just call me?! A Quiz]( Never be caught off guard [PLAY NOW]( Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! [TAKE ME THERE [>]]( Did You Know? You already have plenty of incentive to learn the origin of impetus, so we won't force the point. Impetus comes from Latin, where it means "attack or assault"; the verb impetere was formed by combining the prefix in- with petere, meaning "to go to or seek." Petere also gives us other words suggesting a forceful urging or momentum, such as [appetite](, [perpetual](, and [centripetal](. Impetus describes the kind of force that encourages an action ("the impetus behind the project") or the momentum of an action already begun ("the meetings only gave impetus to the rumors of a merger"). Examples of IMPETUS The high salary and generous benefits package were impetus enough to apply for the job. "Several legislators who spoke at last week's workshop cited a recent series by the Post & Courier of Charleston as the impetus for this year's focus on education." — Kirk Brown, The Greenville (South Carolina) News, 9 Jan. 2019 Word Family Quiz Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective that is believed to be derived from Latin petere (meaning "to seek") and means "likely to have or produce good results"? p _ _ p _ _ i _ us. [VIEW THE ANSWER [>]]( WORD OF THE YEAR 2018 Justice + 10 more Read why justice is our Word of the Year, plus lodestar, epiphany, pansexual, and 7 more top words! [SEE THE FULL LIST [>]]( MORE WORD FUN: [WORD GAMES [>]]( [TRENDING NOW [>]]( [WORDS AT PLAY [>]]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( SHARE: [Facebook][Facebook]( [Twitter][Twitter]( [View this email in a web browser]( You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day. [Unsubscribe from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day]( [Manage your subscription settings]( Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA 01102 [www.merriam-webster.com](