moment

1. A brief, indefinite interval of time.
2. A specific point in time, especially the present time: He is not here at the moment.
3. A particular period of importance, influence, or significance in a series of events or developments: a great moment in history; waiting for her big moment.
4. Outstanding significance or value; importance: a discovery of great moment.
5. A brief period of time that is characterized by a quality, such as excellence, suitability, or distinction: a lackluster performance that nevertheless had its moments.
6. Philosophy.
   1. An essential or constituent element, as of a complex idea.
   2. A phase or an aspect of a logically developing process.
7. (Abbr. M) Physics.
   1. The product of a quantity and its perpendicular distance from a reference point.
   2. The tendency to cause rotation about a point or an axis.
8. Statistics. The expected value of a positive integral power of a random variable. The first moment is the mean of the distribution.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mōmentum, from *movimentum. See momentum.]

SYNONYMS   moment, instant, minute, second, jiffy, flash. These nouns denote a brief interval of time. A moment is an indeterminately short but significant period: I'll be with you in a moment. Instant is a period of time almost too brief to detect; it implies haste: He hesitated for just an instant. Minute is often interchangable with moment and second with instant: The alarm will ring any minute. I'll be back in a second. Jiffy and flash usually combine with in a; in a jiffy means in a short space of time, while in a flash suggests the almost imperceptible duration of a flash of light: "He was on his stool in a jiffy, driving away with his pen" (Charles Dickens). She finished the job in a flash. See also synonyms at importance.

For a random variable X the rth moment (about the origin) is defined to be the expectation of X^r, where r is a non-negative integer. It is usually denoted by μ′_r. So μ′₀=1 and μ′₁=μ, the mean of the distribution of X.

The rth moment about the mean (or central moment or corrected moment) is defined to be the expectation of (X−μ)^r and is usually denoted by μ_r. Thus μ₁=0 and μ₂=σ², the variance of X. The moments about the mean can be expressed as linear combinations of the uncorrected moments, for example:

.

noun

1. A very brief time: crack, flash, instant, minute¹, second¹, trice, twinkle, twinkling, wink. Informal jiff, jiffy. Chiefly British tick. See big/small/amount, time.
2. A particular interval of time that is limited and often crucial: instant, juncture, point. See time.
3. The quality or state of being important: concern, concernment, consequence, import, importance, significance, significancy, weight, weightiness. See important/unimportant.

Idioms beginning with moment:
moment of truth

In addition to the idiom beginning with moment, also see at this point (moment); every minute (moment) counts; for the moment; have one's moments; just a minute (moment); live for the moment; never a dull moment; not for a moment; of the moment; on the spur of the moment; weak moment.

Definition: importance
Antonyms: triviality, unimportance

The property by which a force tends to cause a body, to which it is applied, to rotate about a point or line; equal in magnitude to the product of the force and the perpendicular distance of the point from the line of action of the force.

1. the force exerted by a lever about a fulcrum.
2. statistically, the mean. The first moment is the same as the mean, the second moment is the mean of the square of a variable, and so on.

(DOD, NATO) In air transport, the weight of a load multiplied by its distance from a reference point in the aircraft.

"Principle of Moments" redirects here. For the Robert Plant album, see The Principle of Moments. For a more abstract concept of moments that evolved from this concept of physics, see Moment (mathematics).

In physics, the term "moment" can refer to many different concepts:

• Moment of force (often just moment) is a synonym for torque, an important basic concept in physics, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering. In the context of mechanical engineering, the terms are not necessarily interchangeable, but one or the other may be preferred in a specific context. For example, "torque" is usually used to describe a rotational force of a shaft, for example a turning screw-driver, while "moment" is more often used to describe a bending force on a beam.
  • Moment arm is a quantity used when calculating torque. See the article torque.
  • The Principle of moments is a theorem concerning torques. See the article torque.
• Moment of a vector is a generalization of the moment of force. The moment M of a vector B about the point A is

where

is the vector from point A to the position where quantity B is applied.

× represents the cross product of the vectors.

Thus M can be referred to as "the moment M with respect to the axis that goes through the point A", or simply "the moment M around A". If A is the origin, or, informally, if the axis involved is clear from context, one often omits A and says simply moment.

When B is the force, the moment of force is the torque as defined above.

• Moment of inertia () is analogous to mass in discussions of rotational motion.
• Angular momentum (L = Iω) is the rotational analog of momentum. (Historically, angular momentum was sometimes referred to as "moment of momentum".)
• Magnetic moment () is a dipole moment measuring the strength and direction of a magnetic source.

External links

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Common misspelling(s) of moment

• moent

Dansk (Danish)
n. - øjeblik

idioms:

• any moment now    hvert øjeblik
• at the moment    i øjeblikket
• for a moment    i et øjeblik
• for the moment    for øjeblikket
• have one's moments    have sine (store) øjeblikke
• of the moment    dagens (mand/kvinde)
• Wait a moment    vent et øjeblik

Nederlands (Dutch)
ogenblik, moment, belang, tijdstip

Français (French)
n. - moment, instant, importance, (Phys) moment

idioms:

• any moment now    d'un moment à l'autre, incessamment
• at any moment    à tout instant
• at the moment    en ce moment, pour l'instant
• at this moment    en ce moment
• for a moment    l'espace d'un instant
• for the moment    pour l'instant
• have one's moments    (fig) avoir ses bons côtés
• in a moment    dans un moment
• not for a moment    pas un seul instant, jamais de la vie (excl)
• of the moment    du moment
• one moment    un instant
• Wait a moment    Attendez un moment/un instant, minute/pas si vite (excl) (d'indignation)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Augenblick, Moment

idioms:

• any moment now    sehr bald
• at any moment    jeden Augenblick od. Moment
• at the moment    zur Zeit
• at this moment    in diesem Moment od. Augenblick
• for a moment    für einen Augenblick
• for the moment    für den Augenblick
• have one's moments    manchmal eindrucksvoll, froh o.ä. sein
• in a moment    im Nu (ugs.), sofort, gleich
• not for a moment    keinen Moment [lang]
• of the moment    des Augenblicks
• one moment    einen Moment od. Augenblick!, Moment[chen] od. Augenblick mal!
• Wait a moment    Moment mal!

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (χρονική) στιγμή, σπουδαιότητα, βαρύτητα, (φυσ.) ροπή
int. - μια στιγμή!

idioms:

• any moment now    από στιγμή σε στιγμή
• at the moment    για την ώρα
• for a moment    προς στιγμήν, για λίγο
• for the moment    για την ώρα, προς το παρόν
• have one's moments    έχω τις καλές μου στιγμές
• of the moment    αυτού του καιρού, στην επικαιρότητα
• Wait a moment    Για μια στιγμή!

Italiano (Italian)
momento, istante, rilievo

idioms:

• at the moment    per il momento
• for a moment    per un istante
• for the moment    per il momento
• have one's moments    avere momenti felici
• of the moment    del momento

Português (Portuguese)
n. - momento (m), conseqüência (f), fator essencial (m) (Filos.)
int. - só um momento!

idioms:

• at the moment    neste momento
• for a moment    por um momento
• for the moment    por enquanto
• have one's moments    ter seus momentos
• of the moment    o mais importante do momento

Русский (Russian)
момент, минута, определенное время, важность

idioms:

• at the moment    в данный момент
• for a moment    на минутку
• for the moment    в настоящее время
• have one's moments    испытывать минуты счастья
• of the moment    важный в данный момент времени

Español (Spanish)
n. - momento, instante, oportunidad, importancia

idioms:

• any moment now    en cualquier momento
• at any moment    de un momento a otro
• at the moment    en el momento
• at this moment    en este preciso instante, en este momento
• for a moment    por un momento
• for the moment    por el momento, de momento, por ahora
• have one's moments    tiene sus (buenos) momentos
• in a moment    en un instante, en un momento
• not for a moment    ni por un momento, ni por un instante
• of the moment    del momento
• one moment    un momento, un instante
• Wait a moment    ¡un momento!, ¡momentito!, espere un momento

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ögonblick, betydelse, moment, beståndsdel
int. - ett ögonblick!

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
瞬间, 指定时刻, 片刻, 时机

idioms:

• any moment now    任何时候, 随时
• at the moment    现在, 当时
• for a moment    一会儿, 片刻
• for the moment    暂时, 目前
• have one's moments    得意的时刻, 出风头的时刻, 走红的时刻
• of the moment    此刻
• Wait a moment    等一会儿

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 瞬間, 指定時刻, 片刻, 時機

idioms:

• any moment now    任何時候, 隨時
• at the moment    現在, 當時
• for a moment    一會兒, 片刻
• for the moment    暫時, 目前
• have one's moments    得意的時刻, 出風頭的時刻, 走紅的時刻
• of the moment    此刻
• Wait a moment    等一會兒

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 순간, 위기, 중요성, 계기

idioms:

• at the moment    그 순간에, 당장에는
• have one's moments    최고로 행복할 때가 있다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 瞬間, 時, 時期, 今, 現在, 運動率, 重要性

idioms:

• at the moment    ちょうど今, ちょうどその時
• for a moment    しばらく, 一瞬たりとも
• for the moment    さしあたり
• have one's moments    最高の時である
• of the moment    目下の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) لحظه, أهميه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הרף-עין, רגע, נקודת-זמן מדויקת, חשיבות, מומנט, תנופה‬

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