Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Inertia |
InertiaNoun1. A disposition to remain inactive or inert; "he had to overcome his inertia and get back to work". 2. (physics) the tendency of a body to maintain is state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "inertia" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1588. (references) |
Etymology: Inertia \In*er"ti*a\, noun. [Latin expression, idleness, from iners idle. See Inert.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Aerospace | Resistance to acceleration. (references) |
Chemistry | That property of matter by virtue of which any material body continues in its existing state of movement or rest, in the absence of an external force. Source: European Union. (references) |
Fine Arts | Particular value of exposure arrived at by continuing the straight line portion of the characteristic curve to meet the exposure axis. Source: European Union. (references) |
Health | Inactivity, inability to move spontaneously. (references) |
Literature | Inertia That want of power in matter to change its state either from rest to motion, or from motion to rest. Kepler calls it Vis inertiæ. (Ars in Latin is the Greek arete, power or inherent force; In-ars is the absence of this power.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Medicine | A state of complete inactivity; a condition of indolence or sluggishness of body or mind. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A condition of indolence or sluggishness of body or mind. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Mining | The reluctance of a body to change its state of rest or of uniform velocity in a straight line. Inertia is measured by mass when linear velocities and accelerations are considered and by moment of inertia forangular motions (that is, rotations about an axis). (references) |
Physics | The property of matter that requires a force to act on it to change the way it is moving; momentum is a measure of inertia. (references) |
Space | The property of matter to resists accleration or deceleration, i.e. any motion which is not in a straight line and with constant velocity. (references) |
| The opposition of a body to have its state of rest or motion changed. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Inertia is the property of inertness. Something that has inertia will tend to do little or nothing. In common usage, inertia has a different meaning: something that has inertia will not (or will rarely) change on its own.
In physics, all matter has inertia. An object with inertia will not accelerate without a certain type of impetus, called a force.Physics definition
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Inertia."
Synonyms: InertiaSynonyms: inactiveness (n), inactivity (n). (additional references) |
| Antonym: activeness (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Insensibility | Noun: insensibility, insensibleness; moral insensibility; inertness, inertia; vis inertiae; impassibility, impassibleness; inappetency, apathy, phlegm, dullness, hebetude, supineness, lukewarmness. |
Physical Inertness | Noun: inertness, dullness; Adjective: inertia, vis inertiae, inertion, inactivity, torpor, languor; quiescence; latency, inaction; passivity. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Inertia (2001) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
W. Clement Stone | So many fail because they don't get started -- they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin. |
| That's why many fail -- because they don't get started -- they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin. | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | For, in our times, there is no belief longer in inertia or in immobility. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Surgical removal of the colon may be an option for people with severe symptoms caused by colonic inertia. (references) | |
Colonic inertia and delayed transit are two types of functional constipation caused by decreased muscle activity in the colon. (references) | ||
Economic History | Bahrain | A good local "fixer" with extensive contacts can be very effective in overcoming bureaucratic inertia. (references) |
Uk | Most observers agree that the inertia of BT and the inability of the regulator OFTEL to force the pace have caused the delay in local loop unbundling. (references) | |
Equatorial Guinea | However, critics fear that such a company may become a vehicle for opaque accounting and inertia of the sort that has hindered development in neighboring countries including Angola, Cameroon, and Nigeria. (references) | |
Political Economy | BANGLADESH | Although the government has enacted some liberal investment policies to foster private sector involvement (mainly in energy and telecommunications), poor infrastructure, bureaucratic inertia, corruption, labor militancy, and a generally weak financial system discourage investment. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | LAOCOON, n. A famous piece of antique scripture representing a priest of that name and his two sons in the folds of two enormous serpents. The skill and diligence with which the old man and lads support the serpents and keep them up to their work have been justly regarded as one of the noblest artistic illustrations of the mastery of human intelligence over brute inertia. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Inertia" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.41% of the time. "Inertia" is used about 340 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.41% | 338 | 15,594 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.59% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 340 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "inertia": absorber inertia ♦ Center of inertia ♦ Colonic Inertia ♦ gyroscopic inertia ♦ inertia load ♦ inertia reel ♦ inertia wave ♦ moment of inertia ♦ moment of inertia about one axis ♦ radius of inertia ♦ Uterine Inertia. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "inertia": inertia-reel seat-belt. | |
Ending with "inertia": bio-inertia. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "inertia"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | inerci, plogëti, plogështi (angularity, apathy, idleness, inaction, indolence, languor, lassitude, phlegm, sloth, tardiness, torpor), amulli (quiescence, quiescency, slack, stagnancy, stagnation). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | كسل (drowse, idleness, inaction, inactivity, indolence, languor, lassitude, laziness, lethargy, sloth, slothful, sluggard, sluggishness), همود (dormancy, extinction, inaction, inertness, subsidence), قصور ذاتي في الفيزياء, العطالة (unemployment). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | мудност (inaction, inertness, phlegm, ponderosity, tardiness), леност (idleness, indolence, sloth), бездейност, инерция (way), инертност (heaviness, inaction, inactivity, inertness, lethargy, quiescence, quiescency, stagnancy, stagnation). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 惯性 (inertial). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | setrvaènost, ochablost (flabbiness, slackness), neèinnost (idleness, inaction, inactivity, vacancy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | inerti (inactivity, sluggishness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | traagheid (indolence, sluggishness), inertie (sluggishness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | ناکاری , قوه جبری , سکون (Equilibrium, Inaction, Lull, Quiet, Slack, Station, Stay). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | hitaus (hysteresis, lag, sloth, slowness, sluggishness, smearing). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | inertie (indolence, inertness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | trägheit (idleness, inaction, inactivity, indolence, inertial, inertness, lag, languidness, languishment, languor, lassitude, laziness, lethargy, phlegm, shiftlessness, sloth, sluggishness, smearing, supineness, torpidity, torpor), Massenträgheit. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | αδράνεια (dormancy, dullness, hebetude, inaction, inactivity, inertness, mental dullness, remissness, sluggishness, stupor, torpor, vegetativeness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | אי רצי", רפיון (flabbiness, inertness, laxation, laxity, limpness, looseness, slack, slackness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | élettelenség (deadness, inanimation, inertness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | kemandekan (a halt, stagnation, standstill), kelembaman (languidness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | inerzia (inactivity, inertness, passivity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 惰力 , 惰性 (habit, momentum). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | か"せい (accomplishment, cheer, complete, completion, control, dry, dryness, government-manufactured, government-regulated organization or facility etc., perfection, pitfall, quiet, sense, sensitiveness, sensitivity, shout, shout of joy, snoring sound, tranquil, trap), よせい (impetus, momentum, one's remaining years, surplus power), はずみ (bound, chance, impetus, impulse, instant, momentum, rebound, spring, spur of the moment, stimulus), せい (habit, momentum), りょく (batting power, force of habit, momentum). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 관성. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | taaueid (inaction, inertness, qualmishness), neughleashaght (immobility), litcherys (idleness, indolence, slothfulness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | inertiaay inerte (aggregate, drowsy, inactive, inert, leaden, leader, lifeless, lumpish, stagnant, supine), inércia (doldrums, inertness, Lethe, lifelike, passivity, rest, torpidity), inércia. (various references) inerţie (heaviness, inaction, intention, sluggishness). (various references) инерция. (various references) inercija. (various references) inercia, indolencia (inactivity, indolence, painlessness, sloth, torpidness). (various references) tröghet (inaction, inactivity, inertness, languor, lassitude, slowness, tardiness), slöhet (aparthy, apathy, bluntness, dulling, dullness, indolence, languor, lassitude, laziness, lethargy, sloth, spend, torpidity, torpor). (various references) uyuşukluk (deadness, dormancy, drowsiness, indolence, inertness, lethargy, numbness, sloth, sluggishness, somnolence, stupefaction, stupor, torpidity, torpidness, torpor), tembellik (dalliance, dilatoriness, idleness, inaction, inactivity, indolence, laziness, slackness, sloth, sluggishness, stagnancy, stagnation, vacancy), süredurum, hareketsizlik (immobility, inaction, inactivity, inertness, quiet, quietness, quietude, rest, stagnancy, stagnation, still, stillness), etkileşime girmeme, durağanlık (stability, stableness), dinginlik (calm, calmness, composure, passivity, quiet, quietness, serenity). (various references) інерція, інертність (passivism, stagnancy). (various references) tính chậm chạp (inertness, laggardness, sluggishness), tính ì (inactiveness, inactivity, inertness), quán tính tính trì trệ. (various references) syrthni (listlessness, sloth), anegni. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | inertia. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "inertia": inertiae, inertial, inertially, inertias. (additional references) | |
| |
"Inertia" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: anergia, Binnerton, enertia, Inaria, Inasia, Inatio, incerta, ineria, inersha, inerta, inerti, inertiae, Inesti, iniuria, innertia, Inria, Interchi, interia, interie, intertia, invetriata, Isnardia, Linaria, milnerite, neqrita, Neritan, Tinerhir. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "inertia" (pronounced 'In*er"ti*a'): Aconitia, Acontia, Actinozoa, Amentia, Asitia, Coloquintida, Comitia, Constantia, Dementia, Differentia, Endoplastica, Errantia, Fodientia, Gallimatia, Hyperoartia, militia, minutia, Opuntia, Penultima, Petalosticha, Phocodontia, Poinsettia, Primitia, Pteranodontia, Reptantia, Respondentia, Rodentia, Rondeletia, Ruminantia, Strontia, Terebrantia, Thecodontia, Theriodontia, Tillodontia, Utia, Utica. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-i-i-n-r-t" | |
-1 letter: ratine, retain, retina, tinier. | |
-2 letters: antre, entia, inert, inter, irate, niter, nitre, retia, riant, tenia, terai, tinea, train, trine. | |
-3 letters: airn, airt, ante, anti, earn, etna, inia, inti, near, neat, nite, rain, rani, rant, rate, rein, rent, rite, tain, tare, tarn, tear, tern, tier, tine, tire. | |
-4 letters: ain, air, ait, ane, ani, ant, are. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-i-i-n-r-t" | |
+1 letter: daintier, inertiae, inertial, inertias, paintier, rainiest, triazine, triennia. | |
+2 letters: anticrime, brainiest, carnitine, circinate, criminate, grainiest, inebriant, inebriate, infuriate, inhabiter, interlaid, intimater, intricate, irridenta, iterating, iteration, itinerant, itinerary, itinerate, linearity, miniature, originate, rebaiting, reinhabit, reptilian, retailing, retaining, saintlier, seriating, triazines, trichinae, triennial, trilinear, uraninite. | |
+3 letters: acierating, administer, antheridia, anticaries, antierotic, antiheroic, antilitter, antipyrine, antirabies, antistrike, bairnliest, banditries, brigantine, carnitines, creatinine, criminated, criminates, derivation, detraining, distrained, distrainer, drivetrain, eliminator, emigrating, emigration, entraining, eradiating, expiration, garnierite, gyniatries, herniating, herniation, iatrogenic, impairment, incinerate, indurative, inearthing, inebriants, inebriated, inebriates, inertially, infantries, infiltrate, infuriated, infuriates, ingratiate, inhabiters, inordinate, interbasin, interchain, interfaith, intertidal, intertrial, intimaters, intragenic, intreating, invigorate, irridentas, iterations, itinerancy, itinerants, itinerated, itinerates, keratinize, laterizing, liberating, liberation, literation, maintainer, miniatures, mistrained, originated, originates, pertaining, quantifier, recitation, redbaiting, reinhabits, reinitiate, repainting, reptilians, resinating, retailings, retraining, ruminative, sanctifier, sanitaries, seminarist, septenarii, tanistries, tetrazzini, thorianite, trailering, transitive, triennials, trigeminal, tripinnate, tristearin, univariate, uraninites, urbanities, vanitories. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)49 6E 65 72 74 69 61 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).. -. . .-. - .. .- |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001001 01101110 01100101 01110010 01110100 01101001 01100001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)I n e r t i a |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0049 006E 0065 0072 0074 0069 0061 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)43807184867567 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Orthography 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
