propulsion

See also: propulsión

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin propulsio, propulsionis, from the past participle of Latin propello (“to drive forward, drive forth, drive away, drive out”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹəˈpʌlʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

propulsion (countable and uncountable, plural propulsions)

1. The process of propelling, driving, or pushing, typically forward or onward; a propulsive force or impulse.
2. That which propels.
   • 1995, Joyce A. Hayes, Benjamin E. Goldberg, David M. Anderson, “Environmental Benefits of Chemical Propulsion”, in Ann F. Whitaker, editor, Aerospace Environmental Technology Conference, page 59:

     However, nuclear propulsion provides a very high specific impulse and consistent, long duration energy source.

   • 2013, Yung-Kang (Derby) Sun, Non-Propellant Propulsion for Space Flight, page 20:

     This propulsion provides an initial velocity for the vehicle in a short time span.

   • 2015, Peter Jedicke, Extreme Science: The Highway of Light and Other Man-Made Wonders, Scientific American:

     Solar-electric propulsion accelerates a spacecraft by means of a low-thrust ion jet.

Derived terms

• astronaut propulsion unit
• gravitational propulsion
• jet propulsion

 

Related terms

• propel

Translations

the action of driving or pushing

• Bulgarian: задвижване (bg) n (zadvižvane)
• Catalan: propulsió f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 動力／动力 (zh) (dònglì), 推進力／推进力 (zh) (tuījīnlì)

• Danish: fremdrift (da) c
• Dutch: voortstuwing (nl) f
• Finnish: työntö (fi), työntövoima (fi), propulsio
• French: propulsion (fr) f
• Galician: propulsión f
• Georgian: წინსვლა (c̣insvla)
• German: Antrieb (de) m
• Hindi: प्रवृत्ति (hi) f (pravŕtti)
• Hungarian: meghajtás (hu)
• Japanese: 推力 (ja) (suiryoku)
• Portuguese: propulsão (pt) f
• Romanian: propulsare (ro) f, propulsie (ro) f
• Russian: дви́жущая си́ла (ru) f (dvížuščaja síla), пропу́льсия f (propúlʹsija)
• Scottish Gaelic: sparradh m
• Sindhi: ڌُوڪَ (sd) (Dhooka)
• Spanish: propulsión (es) f

References

• “propulsion”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• propulsion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin propulsiōnem, from Latin propulsus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.pyl.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

propulsion f (plural propulsions)

1. propulsion [from 1640]

Related terms

• autopropulsion
• propulser
• propulseur
• propulsif

 

Further reading

• “propulsion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.