Word of the Day:March 27, 2022

impetus

动力；推动；促进；刺激

noun IM-puh-tus [ˈɪmpətəs]

What It Means

An impetus is "a force that causes or encourages something to be done or to become more active."

Impetus 是“鼓励或促成完成某事的力量或变得更加积极的力量”。

IMPETUS in Context

"Social media is often the impetus for the feeling of FOMO. Deborah Tannen, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University, said she first heard about FOMO in relation to social media because it 'ratchets up the likelihood that you'll hear about an event you weren't invited to and have to actually see photos of the smiling, happy people who are at the event.'" — Alexis Benveniste, The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2022

“Social media 的推动力来自社交控的想法。乔治城大学语言学教授 Deborah Tannen 说，她第一次听说 FOMO 与社交媒体有关，因为它‘增加了你没有听到的未知的（没有亲身经历的）某些事件，而且看得到参加活动的欢乐、及人们快乐的照片。”

Did You Know?

Impetus comes from the Latin verb impetere, meaning "to attack," which is a combination of the prefix in-, meaning "toward," with petere, meaning "to go to" or "to seek." Hence, impetus describes the kind of force that encourages an action ("The impetus behind the project") or the momentum of an action already begun ("The meetings only gave impetus to the rumors of a merger").

Impetus 来自拉丁动词 impetere，意思是“to attack【攻击】”，which is a combination of the prefix in-,意思是“toward【朝向…】”，而 petere 意思是“to go to【去】”或“to seek【寻找】”。 因此，impetus 形容为促成行动的力量（“The impetus behind the project【项目背后的动力】”）或开始行动的动力（“The meetings only gave impetus to the rumors of a merge”）。

Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete a word for a sudden strong desire to do something: i _ p _ _ se.

impulse