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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “momentum”

“momentum” is pronounced /moʊˈmɛntəm/ (moh-MEN-tuhm) in American English and /məʊmɛntəm/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “en”.
The sound

Say “momentum” in 3 beats

Say it like this

momentum

/moʊˈmɛntəm/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /məʊmɛntəm/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. mommoʊ
  2. enmɛnstress
  3. tumtəm
IPA (American)
/moʊˈmɛntəm/
IPA (British)
/məʊmɛntəm/
Respelling
moh-MEN-tuhm
Syllables
3 — mom-EN-tum
Stress
Stress the second syllable: mom-EN-tum. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/moʊˈmɛntəm/

British

/məʊmɛntəm/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “momentum” means

  1. noun

    an impelling force or strength

    “the car's momentum carried it off the road”

  2. noun

    the product of a body's mass and its velocity

    “the momentum of the particles was deduced from meteoritic velocities”

Say it in a sentence

“The campaign lost momentum once the weather turned cold.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
mm×3oʊlong oɛshort ennttəschwa

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“momentum”, answered

How do you pronounce “momentum”?

“momentum” is pronounced /moʊˈmɛntəm/ (moh-MEN-tuhm) in American English and /məʊmɛntəm/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “en”. Build it as mom-EN-tum, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “momentum” have?

3: mom · en · tum. The beat lands on the second, “en”.

Is “momentum” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /moʊˈmɛntəm/ (moh-MEN-tuhm); British English says /məʊmɛntəm/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “momentum” mean?

As a noun: an impelling force or strength For example: “the car's momentum carried it off the road” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “momentum”?

Stress the second syllable: mom-EN-tum. “en” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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