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Meaning of impetus

im•pe•tus

Pronunciation: (im'pi-tus), [key]
— pl. -tus•es.
  1. a moving force; impulse; stimulus: The grant for building the opera house gave impetus to the city's cultural life.
  2. (broadly) the momentum of a moving body, esp. with reference to the cause of motion.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also:
impetuous impf.