Meanings
nounacceleration (countable and uncountable, plural accelerations)
plural accelerations · alternative acc. · alternative a.
- uncountableThe act of accelerating, or the state of being accelerated; increase of motion or action; as opposed to retardation or deceleration.
A falling body moves toward the earth with an acceleration of velocity.
2 more examples
If you hear flutter on acceleration, it is dangerous surge.
2026, Mohammed Hamed Ahmed Soliman, Turbocharger Diagnostics & Performance Optimization: Boost Control, Failure Analysis, and Tuning for Modern Forced Induction Systems, Personal Lean Publictations, page 82On the East and West Coast Main Lines in the 1950s/60s, for example, we saw the extinction of intermediate stations in order to create the same sort of accelerations that IRP is now promising. Back then, the priority was faster main line services, with wayside/intermediate stations paying the ultimate price.
2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3 - countableThe amount by which a speed or velocity increases (and so a scalar quantity or a vector quantity).
The boosters produce an acceleration of 20 metres per second per second.
1 more example
A period of social improvement, or of intellectual advancement, contains within itself a principle of acceleration […]
1859-1860, Isaac Taylor, Ultimate Civilisation - countableuncountablenatural sciencesThe change of velocity with respect to time (can include deceleration or changing direction).
- countableuncountableThe advancement of students at a rate that places them ahead of where they would be in the regular school curriculum.
Synonyms & antonyms
antonym(s) of “act or state, amount”
Opposite
nounthe act of accelerating; increasing the speed
Similar
Opposite
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
- Proto-Italic*ad
- Proto-Italic*ad-
- Latinad-
- Proto-Indo-European*kel-
- Latinceler
- Latincelerō
- Latinaccelerō
- Latinaccelerātiō
- Englishacceleration
First attested in 1531. From French accélération or more likely directly from Latin accelerātiō (“a hastening, acceleration”). Equivalent to accelerate + -ion.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans versnelling
- versnellingchange of velocity with respect to time
Arabic تَسَارُع
- تَسَارُع (tasāruʕ)change of velocity with respect to time
Basque azelerazio
- azeleraziochange of velocity with respect to time
Bengali ত্বরণ
- ত্বরণ (toron)change of velocity with respect to time
Bulgarian ускоря́ване, акселера́ция
- ускоря́ване (uskorjávane)act or state
- акселера́ция (akselerácija)act or state
- ускоре́ние (uskorénie)act or state
- ускоре́ние (uskorénie)amount
- ускоре́ние (uskorénie)change of velocity with respect to time
Catalan acceleració, acceleració
- acceleracióact or state
- acceleracióamount
- acceleracióchange of velocity with respect to time
Chinese Mandarin 加速, 加速度
- 加速 (jiāsù)act or state
- 加速度 (jiāsùdù)amount
- 加速度 (jiāsùdù)change of velocity with respect to time
Czech zrychlení, zrychlení
- zrychleníact or state
- zrychleníamount
- zrychleníchange of velocity with respect to time
- akceleracechange of velocity with respect to time
Danish acceleration, acceleration
- accelerationact or state
- accelerationchange of velocity with respect to time
Dutch versnelling, acceleratie
- versnellingact or state
- acceleratieact or state
- versnellingamount
- acceleratieamount
- versnellingchange of velocity with respect to time
- acceleratiechange of velocity with respect to time
Esperanto akcelo, akcelo
- akceloact or state
- akceloamount
- akcelochange of velocity with respect to time
Estonian kiirendus
- kiirenduschange of velocity with respect to time
Finnish kiihdytys, kiihtyvyys
- kiihdytysact or state
- kiihtyvyysamount
- kiihtyvyyschange of velocity with respect to time
French accélération, accélération
- accélérationact or state
- accélérationamount
- accélérationchange of velocity with respect to time
German Beschleunigung, Akzeleration
- Beschleunigungact or state
- Akzelerationact or state
- Beschleunigungamount
- Akzelerationamount
- Beschleunigungchange of velocity with respect to time
- Akzelerationchange of velocity with respect to time
Greek επιτάχυνση, επιτάχυνση
- επιτάχυνση (epitáchynsi)act or state
- επιτάχυνση (epitáchynsi)amount
- επιτάχυνση (epitáchynsi)change of velocity with respect to time
Hebrew האצה, תאוצה
- האצה (he'atza)act or state
- תאוצה (teutza)amount
- תאוצהchange of velocity with respect to time
Hindi त्वरण
- त्वरण (tvaraṇ)change of velocity with respect to time
Hungarian gyorsulás, gyorsulás
- gyorsulásact or state
- gyorsuláschange of velocity with respect to time
Icelandic hröðun
- hröðunchange of velocity with respect to time
Indonesian percepatan, akselerasi
- percepatanchange of velocity with respect to time
- akselerasichange of velocity with respect to time
Irish luasghéarú
- luasghéarúchange of velocity with respect to time
Italian accelerazione, accelerazione
- accelerazioneact or state
- accelerazioneamount
- accelerazionechange of velocity with respect to time
Japanese 加速, 加速度
- 加速 (kasoku)act or state
- 加速度 (kasokudo)amount
- 加速度 (kasokudo)change of velocity with respect to time
Korean 가속, 가속도
- 가속 (gasok)act or state
- 가속도 (gasokdo)change of velocity with respect to time
Latin accelerātiō, acceleratio
- accelerātiōact or state
- acceleratiochange of velocity with respect to time
Latvian paātrinājums
- paātrinājumschange of velocity with respect to time
Lithuanian pagreitis, pagreitis
- pagreitisact or state
- pagreitischange of velocity with respect to time
Malay pecutan, pemecutan
- pecutanamount
- pemecutanchange of velocity with respect to time
Norwegian Bokmål akselerasjon, akselerasjon
- akselerasjonact or state
- akselerasjonchange of velocity with respect to time
Persian شتاب, شتاب
- شتاب (šetâb)act or state
- شتاب (šetâb)change of velocity with respect to time
Polish przyspieszenie, akceleracja
- przyspieszenieact or state
- akceleracjaact or state
- przyspieszenieamount
- przyspieszeniechange of velocity with respect to time
- akceleracjaeducation
Portuguese aceleração, aceleração
- aceleraçãoact or state
- aceleraçãoamount
- aceleraçãochange of velocity with respect to time
Punjabi ਪ੍ਰਵੇਗ
- ਪ੍ਰਵੇਗ (prveg)change of velocity with respect to time
Romanian accelerație, accelerare
- accelerațieact or state
- accelerareact or state
- accelerațiechange of velocity with respect to time
Russian ускоре́ние, разго́н
- ускоре́ние (uskorénije)act or state
- разго́н (razgón)act or state
- ускоре́ние (uskorénije)amount
- ускоре́ние (uskorénije)change of velocity with respect to time
Slovak zrýchlenie
- zrýchleniechange of velocity with respect to time
Spanish aceleración, aceleramiento
- aceleraciónact or state
- aceleramientoact or state
- acceleraciónact or state
- aceleraciónchange of velocity with respect to time
- acceleraciónchange of velocity with respect to time
Swahili mchapuko
- mchapukoact or state
Swedish acceleration, acceleration
- accelerationact or state
- accelerationamount
- accelerationchange of velocity with respect to time
Tagalog darasig, darasig
- darasigact or state
- darasigamount
- darasigchange of velocity with respect to time
- akselerasyonchange of velocity with respect to time
Tamil முடுக்கம்
- முடுக்கம் (muṭukkam)change of velocity with respect to time
Thai ความเร่ง
- ความเร่ง (kwaam-rêng)change of velocity with respect to time
Turkish ivme, hızlanma
- ivmeact or state
- hızlanmaact or state
- ivmeamount
- ivmechange of velocity with respect to time
- hızlanmachange of velocity with respect to time
Ukrainian приско́рення, прискорення
- приско́рення (pryskórennja)act or state
- прискорення (pryskorennja)change of velocity with respect to time
Urdu اسراع
- اسراع (israa)change of velocity with respect to time
Vietnamese gia tốc
- gia tốcchange of velocity with respect to time
Welsh cyflymiad
- cyflymiadchange of velocity with respect to time
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with acceleration
informationeducationlocationapplicationassociationadministrationorganizationcorporationregistrationAsianfoundationcommunicationpopulationnavigationstationaccommodationoperationpublicationvacationtransportationevaluationimplementationinstallationnation
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
acceleration. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acceleration
MLA
“acceleration.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acceleration. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acceleration,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acceleration.
Source: acceleration on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.