velocity

Language: en

🇬🇧 /vəˈlɒsɪti/ 🇺🇸 /vəˈlɑsətiː/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The speed of something in a given direction; a vector quantity representing the rate of change of position with respect to time.; The speed or rate at which something happens or develops.; In agile software development, a measure of the amount of work a team can complete during a single sprint, used for planning purposes.; In economics, the rate at which money circulates in an economy, measured as the ratio of nominal GDP to the money supply.; In music, the force or intensity with which a note is struck on a keyboard or percussion instrument, often used in MIDI to control volume or timbre.; In ballistics, the speed of a projectile at a given point in its trajectory, often measured in feet per second or meters per second.; In astronomy, the speed and direction of a celestial object's motion relative to an observer, often decomposed into radial and tangential components.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: velocities

Collocations

terminal velocityescape velocityangular velocityinitial velocityconstant velocityhigh velocityvelocity of light

Derivatives

velocimeter

Synonyms

speedpacerapidityswiftnesscelerity

Antonyms

slownessstillness

Commonly confused

speed
EN: 'Speed' is a scalar quantity (magnitude only), while 'velocity' is a vector quantity (magnitude and direction) in physics; in everyday use they are often interchangeable.
acceleration
EN: 'Velocity' is the rate of change of position, while 'acceleration' is the rate of change of velocity.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the ending is '-ity' (from Latin 'velocitas'); do not write '*velosity' or '*vellocity'.

💬 Examples

  1. The velocity of the car was 60 miles per hour due north.

  2. The project gained velocity after the new team members joined.

  3. Our team's velocity has been consistently around 30 story points per sprint.

  4. The velocity of money increased significantly during the period of high inflation.

  5. The pianist varied the velocity of each keystroke to create a more expressive performance.

  6. The muzzle velocity of the rifle round was approximately 900 meters per second.

  7. The radial velocity of the star indicated it was moving away from Earth.