rapid
pronunciation
How to pronounce rapid in British English:
UK [ˈræpɪd]
How to pronounce rapid in American English:
US [ˈræpɪd]
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- Noun:
- a part of a river where the current is very fast
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- Adjective:
- done or occurring in a brief period of time
- characterized by speed; moving with or capable of moving with high speed
Word Origin
- rapid
- rapid: [17] Like rape and rapture, rapid comes ultimately from Latin rapere ‘seize by force’. From this was derived the adjective rapidus, which originally denoted ‘carrying off by force’. The notion of ‘swiftness’ soon became incorporated into the meaning, however, and although the Latin adjective retained its original connotations of violence (it suggested ‘impetuous speed’ or ‘haste’), by the time it reached English it had simply become synonymous with ‘quick’.=> rapture
- rapid (adj.)
- 1630s, "moving quickly," from French rapide (17c.) and directly from Latin rapidus "hasty, swift, rapid; snatching; fierce, impetuous," from rapere "hurry away, carry off, seize, plunder," from PIE root *rep- "to snatch" (cognates: Greek ereptomai "devour," harpazein "snatch away," Lithuanian raples "tongs"). Meaning "happening in a short time" is from 1780. Related: Rapidly; rapidness. Rapid-transit first attested 1852, in reference to street railways; rapid eye movement is from 1906.
Example
- 1. Rapid increases in factor prices are bad news .
- 2. Why this rapid shift , which has taken even many activists by surprise ?
- 3. But ford is making more rapid progress .
- 4. Rapid de-stocking by retailers exacerbated the effect of falling demand .
- 5. Visible light communication ( vlc ) uses rapid pulses of light to transmit information wirelessly .