gravitation
/ɡravɪˈteɪʃ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
1Movement, or a tendency to move, towards a centre of gravity, as in the falling of bodies to the earth.He introduced this in 1817 in his study of a problem of Kepler of determining the motion of three bodies moving under mutual gravitation....
- Aristotle's notion of the motion of bodies impeded understanding of gravitation for a long time.
- Newton had deduced from his theory of gravitation that the Earth would be flattened at the poles.
1.1 Physics The force responsible for gravitation; gravity.When the twentieth century began we knew of only two types of natural force: gravitation and the intertwined influence of electricity and magnetism....
- We know of four forces in nature: gravitation, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces.
- No longer able to withstand the force of its own gravitation, the core collapses.
2Movement towards or attraction to something: this recent gravitation towards the Continent...
- According to many experts, however, the move is both a symptom of changing retail trends and a long expected gravitation towards the store's natural born market.
- Her gravitation towards Italy and Italian culture functions as a kind replacement for the personal and cultural decimation she has witnessed as the daughter and niece of Holocaust victims.
- It's almost as though we believe our society is caught up in some kind of unstoppable gravitation towards more consumption, more production, more alienation.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from modern Latin gravitatio(n-), from the verb gravitare (see gravitate).
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