ACCELERATION
acceleration, quickening, speedup
(noun) the act of accelerating; increasing the speed
acceleration
(noun) an increase in rate of change; “modern science caused an acceleration of cultural change”
acceleration
(noun) (physics) a rate of increase of velocity
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
acceleration (countable and uncountable, plural accelerations)
(uncountable) The act of accelerating, or the state of being accelerated; increase of motion or action; as opposed to retardation or deceleration.
(countable) The amount by which a speed or velocity increases (and so a scalar quantity or a vector quantity).
• Isaac Taylor
(physics) The change of velocity with respect to time (can include deceleration or changing direction).
The advancement of students at a rate that places them ahead of where they would be in the regular school curriculum.
Usage notes
Acceleration in SI units is measured in metres per second per second (m/s2), or in imperial units in feet per second per second (ft/s2).
Antonyms
• (act or state, amount): deceleration, retardation
Source: Wiktionary
Ac*cel`er*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. acceleratio: cf. F. accélération.]
Definition: The act of accelerating, or the state of being accelerated;
increase of motion or action; as, a falling body moves toward the
earth with an acceleration of velocity; -- opposed to retardation.
A period of social improvement, or of intellectual advancement,
contains within itself a principle of acceleration. I. Taylor.
(Astr. & Physics.) Acceleration of the moon, the increase of the
moon's mean motion in its orbit, in consequence of which its period
of revolution is now shorter than in ancient times.
– Acceleration and retardation of the tides. See Priming of the
tides, under Priming.
– Diurnal acceleration of the fixed stars, the amount by which
their apparent diurnal motion exceeds that of the sun, in consequence
of which they daily come to the meridian of any place about three
minutes fifty-six seconds of solar time earlier than on the day
preceding.
– Acceleration of the planets, the increasing velocity of their
motion, in proceeding from the apogee to the perigee of their orbits.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition