gravitation
noun
Simple meaning
The fundamental force of attraction that exists between all matter in the universe.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
gravihtayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɡɹævɪˈteɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
physics
The fundamental force of attraction that exists between all matter in the universe, caused by the curvature of spacetime caused by matter. It is the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, and possesses a gauge boson known as the graviton.
physics
The force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The fundamental force of attraction that exists between all matter in the universe, caused by the curvature of spacetime caused by matter. It is the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, and possesses a gauge boson known as the graviton.
Used this way, gravitation is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- gravitational attraction , a specialist term, precise but narrower
- gravitational force , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use gravitation
- “Irrigation by gravitation rather than by pumps.”noun
- “The gravitation of the middle class to the suburbs.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The force of attraction between all masses in the universe.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A wave that is hypothesized to propagate gravity and to travel at the speed of light.
The law that states any two bodies attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance…
The law that states any two bodies attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance…
The theory that any two particles of matter attract one another with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance…
The theory that any two particles of matter attract one another with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance…
The universal constant relating force to mass and distance in Newton's law of gravitation.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to or caused by gravitation.
The universal constant relating force to mass and distance in Newton's law of gravitation.
The universal constant relating force to mass and distance in Newton's law of gravitation.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- gravitationaladjective
- gravitynoun
- cosmologynoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: fundamental force of attraction that exists between all matter in the universe
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.