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inertia

noun

  1. the tendency of an object to remain in its existing state of motion is called its inertia
L227349 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈɜː.ʃə/ / /ɪˈnɜː.ʃə/ / /ɪnˈɝ.ʃə/

noun

Etymology: From Latin inertia (“lack of art or skill, inactivity, indolence”), from iners (“unskilled, inactive”), from in- (“without, not”) + ars (“skill, art”). Something close to the modern physics sense was first used in New Latin by Johannes Kepler.

  1. The property of a body that resists any change to its uniform motion; equivalent to its mass.
  2. In a person, unwillingness to take action.

    Men […] have immense irresolution and inertia.

    Not all the surviving veteran chiefs would actually fight. Some remained nominally in the resistance but in practice delayed at their bases, pretexting a lack of ammunition for their uncertain inertia.

  3. Lack of activity; sluggishness; said especially of the uterus, when, in labour, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased.