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, (please specify the book or page number):
- Men […] have immense irresolution and inertia.
- 2014 March 9, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in The Guardian:
- 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
Translations
in physics
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unwillingness to take action
|
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, →OCLC.
- inertia at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
Finnish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈinertiɑ/, [ˈine̞rˌt̪iɑ]
- Rhymes: -iɑ
- Syllabification(key): i‧ner‧ti‧a
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 | See the possessive forms below. | |||
| Possessive forms of inertia (type kulkija) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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
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
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