moment

Etymology

From Middle English moment, from Old French moment, from Latin mōmentum. Doublet of momentum and movement.

noun

1. A brief, unspecified amount of time.
   Wait a moment, while I lock the front door.
   Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's. 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
   Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself. 2013-06-14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37
2. The smallest portion of time; an instant.
3. (figurative) Weight or importance.
   The document in question is of such immense importance that its publication might very easily – I might almost say probably – lead to European complications of the utmost moment. 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Second Stain, Norton, published 2005, page 1192
   As to any suggestion that Stroudley's engines were not free-running at high speed, this was of little moment with 60 m.p.h. laid down as the limit at that time. 1941 May, “Notes and News: William Stroudley”, in Railway Magazine, page 234
4. (physics, mechanics) Ellipsis of moment of force.
5. (historical, unit) A definite period of time, specifically one-tenth of a point, or one-fortieth or one-fiftieth of an hour.
6. (neurology, informal) A petit mal episode; such a spell.
7. (colloquial) A fit; a brief tantrum.
8. (mathematics) An infinitesimal change in a varying quantity; an increment or decrement.
9. (mathematics) A quantitative measure of the shape of a set of points.
   If the points represent mass, then the zeroth moment is the total mass, the first moment divided by the total mass is the center of mass, and the second moment is the rotational inertia.
10. (Internet slang, derogatory, usually preceded by a noun) An embarrassing event, supposed to be characteristic of some person, group, or situation.
    woman moment
    Reddit moment