movement

move·ment
M3O1V4E1M3E1N1T1
/ˈmuːv.mənt/

noun

Physical motion between points in space.

“social movement”

Opposite
Very commonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounmovement (countable and uncountable, plural movements)

plural movements · alternative abbreviation mov. · alternative abbreviation movt · alternative abbreviation mvmt · alternative abbreviation mvt

  1. countableuncountablePhysical motion between points in space.

    I saw a movement in that grass on the hill.

    Synonyms: motion · Antonyms: stasis

  2. countableuncountableengineeringA system or mechanism for transmitting motion of a definite character, or for transforming motion, such as the wheelwork of a watch.
  3. countableuncountableThe impression of motion in an artwork, painting, novel etc.
  4. countableuncountableA trend in various fields or social categories, a group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals.

    social movement

    2 more examples

    The labor movement has been struggling in America since the passage of the Taft-Hartley act in 1947.

    During the latter part of Taiwan's authoritarian period, social protest movements arose that complemented the periodic efforts of the political opposition- the dangwai-to open the political system. One of the most prominent movements occurred in the town of Lukang in Changhua County in 1986.

    2021, Richard C. Bush, Difficult Choices: Taiwan's Quest for Security and the Good Life, Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 274
  5. countableuncountableentertainmentA large division of a larger composition.

    Beethoven's movements

  6. countableuncountableentertainmentMelodic progression, accentual character, tempo or pace.
  7. countableuncountableaeronauticsAn instance of an aircraft taking off or landing.

    Albuquerque International Sunport serviced over 200,000 movements last year.

  8. countableuncountableball gamesThe deviation of a pitch from ballistic flight.

    The movement on his cutter was devastating.

  9. countableuncountablebridgeA pattern in which pairs change opponents and boards move from table to table in duplicate bridge.
  10. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of bowel movement (“an act of emptying the bowels”).

    when after a movement feces are streaked with blood and the patient suffers from sphincter algia, a fissure should be suspected,

    1923, Samuel Goodwin Gant, Diseases of the Rectum, Anus, and Colon, Including the Ileocolic Angle, page 47
  11. countableobsoleteuncountableMotion of the mind or feelings; emotion.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounPhysical motion between points in space.

Similar
Opposite

More synonyms by meaning

nouna change of position that does not entail a change of location

Broader

nounthe act of changing location from one place to another

Similar
Broader

nouna natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something

Similar

nouna group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals

nouna series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end

Broader

nounan optical illusion of motion produced by viewing a rapid succession of still pictures of a moving object

Similar
apparent motionmotionapparent movement

nouna euphemism for defecation

nouna general tendency to change (as of opinion)

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
  3. Proto-Italic*moweō
  4. Latinmovēre
  5. Old Frenchmovoir
  6. Old Frenchmovement
  7. Middle Englishmevement
  8. Englishmovement

From Middle English mevement, from Old French movement (modern French mouvement), from movoir + -ment; cf. also Medieval Latin movimentum, from Latin movere (“move”). Doublet of moment and momentum. In this sense, displaced native Old English styring, which led to Modern English stirring. Morphologically move + -ment.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek κίνησις
  • κίνησις (kínēsis)physical motion
Arabic حَرَكَة, حَرَكَة
  • حَرَكَة (ḥaraka)physical motion
  • حَرَكَة (ḥaraka)trend in various fields or social categories
Basque mugimendu
  • mugimenduphysical motion
Bengali গতি
  • গতি (gotoi)physical motion
Bulgarian движе́ние, движе́ние
  • движе́ние (dvižénie)physical motion
  • движе́ние (dvižénie)trend in various fields or social categories
Catalan moviment, moviment
  • movimentphysical motion
  • movimenttrend in various fields or social categories
Chinese Cantonese 運動 /运动
  • 運動 /运动physical motion
Chinese Mandarin 運動 /运动, 運動 /运动
  • 運動 /运动 (yùndòng)physical motion
  • 運動 /运动 (yùndòng)trend in various fields or social categories
  • 樂章 /乐章 (yuèzhāng)music: division of a larger musical composition
Czech pohyb, hnutí
  • pohybphysical motion
  • hnutíphysical motion
  • hnutítrend in various fields or social categories
  • větamusic: division of a larger musical composition
Danish bevægelse, bevægelse
  • bevægelsephysical motion
  • bevægelsetrend in various fields or social categories
  • satsmusic: division of a larger musical composition
Dutch beweging, verroering
  • bewegingphysical motion
  • verroeringphysical motion
  • bewegingimpression of motion
  • bewegingtrend in various fields or social categories
  • deelmusic: division of a larger musical composition
  • uurwerkhorology: device that cuts time in equal portions
Esperanto movo, moviĝo
  • movophysical motion
  • moviĝophysical motion
  • movadotrend in various fields or social categories
Estonian liikumine
  • liikuminephysical motion
Finnish liike, liikahdus
  • liikephysical motion
  • liikahdusphysical motion
  • kulkuphysical motion
  • liiketrend in various fields or social categories
  • osamusic: division of a larger musical composition
French mouvement, mouvement
  • mouvementphysical motion
  • mouvementtrend in various fields or social categories
  • mouvementmusic: division of a larger musical composition
German Bewegung, Bewegung
  • Bewegungphysical motion
  • Bewegungtrend in various fields or social categories
  • Satzmusic: division of a larger musical composition
Greek κίνηση, κίνημα
  • κίνηση (kínisi)physical motion
  • κίνημα (kínima)trend in various fields or social categories
  • μέρος (méros)music: division of a larger musical composition
Hebrew תְּנוּעָה, תְּזוּזָה
  • תְּנוּעָה (tnu'á)physical motion
  • תְּזוּזָה (t'zuzá)physical motion
  • מָנוֹד (manód)physical motion
  • נִיד (níd)physical motion
  • מהלך (mahalákh)physical motion
  • תְּנוּעָה (tnu'á)trend in various fields or social categories
Hindi हरकत, गति
  • हरकत (harkat)physical motion
  • गति (gati)physical motion
  • आंदोलन (āndolan)physical motion
  • आंदोलन (āndolan)trend in various fields or social categories
Hungarian mozgás, mozgalom
  • mozgásphysical motion
  • mozgalomtrend in various fields or social categories
  • tételmusic: division of a larger musical composition
Icelandic hreyfing
  • hreyfingphysical motion
Indonesian gerakan, pergerakan
  • gerakanphysical motion
  • pergerakanphysical motion
Irish corraí
  • corraíphysical motion
Italian movimento, movimento
  • movimentophysical motion
  • movimentotrend in various fields or social categories
  • movimentomusic: division of a larger musical composition
Japanese 運動, 動き
  • 運動 (undō)physical motion
  • 動き (ugoki)physical motion
  • 運動 (undō)trend in various fields or social categories
  • 楽章 (gakushō)music: division of a larger musical composition
Korean 운동, 움직임
  • 운동 (undong)physical motion
  • 움직임 (umjigim)physical motion
  • 운동 (undong)trend in various fields or social categories
  • 악장 (akjang)music: division of a larger musical composition
Latin mōtus, mōtus
  • mōtusphysical motion
  • mōtustrend in various fields or social categories
Latvian kustība, kustība
  • kustībaphysical motion
  • kustībatrend in various fields or social categories
Lithuanian judėjimas, sąjūdis
  • judėjimasphysical motion
  • sąjūdistrend in various fields or social categories
Malay pergerakan
  • pergerakanphysical motion
Māori keuenga, koringa
  • keuengaphysical motion
  • koringaphysical motion
  • korikoringaphysical motion
  • rangatohetrend in various fields or social categories
  • tūāreremusic: division of a larger musical composition
Norwegian Bokmål bevegelse, flytting
  • bevegelsephysical motion
  • flyttingphysical motion
  • bevegelsetrend in various fields or social categories
  • satsmusic: division of a larger musical composition
Polish ruch, ruch
  • ruchphysical motion
  • ruchtrend in various fields or social categories
Portuguese movimento, movimento
  • movimentophysical motion
  • movimentotrend in various fields or social categories
  • andamentomusic: division of a larger musical composition
  • movimentomusic: division of a larger musical composition
Romanian mișcare, mișcare
  • mișcarephysical motion
  • mișcaretrend in various fields or social categories
  • mișcaremusic: division of a larger musical composition
Russian движе́ние, движе́ние
  • движе́ние (dvižénije)physical motion
  • движе́ние (dvižénije)trend in various fields or social categories
  • часть (častʹ)music: division of a larger musical composition
Scottish Gaelic gluasad, gluasad
  • gluasadphysical motion
  • gluasadimpression of motion
  • gluasadtrend in various fields or social categories
Slovak pohyb, hnutie
  • pohybphysical motion
  • hnutiephysical motion
  • hnutietrend in various fields or social categories
Spanish movimiento, muebda (diused)
  • movimientophysical motion
  • muebda (diused)physical motion
  • moviciónphysical motion
  • movimientotrend in various fields or social categories
  • movimientomusic: division of a larger musical composition
Swahili peleka, harakati
  • pelekaphysical motion
  • harakatitrend in various fields or social categories
Swedish rörelse, rörelse
  • rörelsephysical motion
  • rörelsetrend in various fields or social categories
  • satsmusic: division of a larger musical composition
  • defekationan act of emptying the bowels
  • öppningan act of emptying the bowels
Tamil நகர்வு, அசைவு
  • நகர்வு (nakarvu)physical motion
  • அசைவு (acaivu)physical motion
  • இயக்கம் (iyakkam)trend in various fields or social categories
Thai ความเคลื่อนไหว, การเคลื่อนไหว
  • ความเคลื่อนไหว (kwaam-klʉ̂ʉan-wǎi)physical motion
  • การเคลื่อนไหว (gaan-klʉ̂ʉan-wǎi)trend in various fields or social categories
Turkish hareket
  • hareketphysical motion
Ukrainian рух, пересува́ння
  • рух (rux)physical motion
  • пересува́ння (peresuvánnja)physical motion
  • перемі́щення (peremíščennja)physical motion
  • рух (rux)trend in various fields or social categories
Urdu حَرَکَت, جُن٘بِش
  • حَرَکَت (harakat)physical motion
  • جُن٘بِش (jumbiś)physical motion
  • تَحْرِیک (tahrīk)physical motion
Vietnamese cử động, phong trào
  • cử độngphysical motion
  • phong tràotrend in various fields or social categories
Yiddish באַוועגונג, באַוועגונג
  • באַוועגונג (bavegung)physical motion
  • באַוועגונג (bavegung)trend in various fields or social categories
  • ריכטונג (rikhtung)trend in various fields or social categories
Cite this entry
APA

movement. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/movement

MLA

“movement.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/movement. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “movement,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/movement.

Source: movement on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.