Pendulum
/ˈpɛn.dʒə.ləm/noun
A weight suspended so that it swings freely under gravity, or the swinging motion itself.
Did you know?Pendulum comes from Latin pendulus, meaning “hanging,” from pendēre, and the same ancient root also gave us words like dependent and suspend—language built on the idea of what is held up, or left dangling.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peh₂-
“to hang, suspend, or be suspended”
Latin
Latin
pendēre
“to hang”
Latin
Latin
pendulus
“hanging, dangling”
Late Latin
Latin
pendulum
“a hanging thing; something that swings”
17th Century
English
pendulum
“a weight hung so it can swing back and forth”
Modern English
English
pendulum
“a suspended weight or the regular back-and-forth motion it makes”