moment

1. (figurative) Weight or importance.Examples: "In deep designs, in matter of great moment, / No less importing than our general good."; "However, upon a ſtrict Review, I blotted out ſeveral Paſſages of leſs Moment which were in my firſt Copy, for fear of being cenſured as tedious and trifling, whereof Travellers are often, perhaps not without Juſtice, accuſed."; "The document in question is of such immense importance that its publication might very easily – I might almost say probably – lead to European complications of the utmost moment."countablefigurativelyuncountable

2. (physics, mechanics) Ellipsis of moment of force.Synonyms: torqueabbreviationalt-ofcountableellipsisuncountable

3. (historical, unit) A definite period of time, specifically one-tenth of a point, or one-fortieth or one-fiftieth of an hour.countablehistoricaluncountable

4. (neurology, informal) A petit mal episode; such a spell.countableinformaluncountable

5. (colloquial) A fit; a brief tantrum.colloquialcountableuncountable

6. (mathematics) An infinitesimal change in a varying quantity; an increment or decrement.countableuncountable