Webster's English Dictionary

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impetus

im.pe.tus \'im-p*t-*s\ n [L, assault, impetus, fr. impetere to attack, fr. 
   in- + petereX to go to, seek - more at FEATHER 1a: a driving force : 
   IMPULSE  1b: INCENTIVE, STIMULUS  2: the property possessed by a moving 
   body in virtue of its mass and its mo tion - used of bodies moving suddenly 
   or violently to indicate the origin and intensity of the motion