speed
n. C / Un. how fast something is moving. You can talk about the speed of a car, a person running, or even how quickly you do your work.
n. the rate at which an object moves or an action is performed. It is a scalar quantity, measuring only magnitude and not direction.
The car travels at a high speed.
The new internet connection has a much faster download speed than our old one.
Pilots must constantly adjust their airspeed to account for changes in altitude and wind speed, ensuring a safe and efficient flight.
From Middle English sped (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic spōan, from Proto-Germanic spōaną (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”), from Proto-Indo-European speh₁- (“to prosper, turn out well”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“success, quickness, speed”), Dutch spoed (“haste; speed”), German Low German Spood (“haste; speed; eagerness; success”), German Sput (“progress, acceleration, haste”). Related also to Old English spōwan (“to be successful, succeed”), Albanian shpejt (“to speed, to hurry”) and Russian спеши́ть (spešítʹ, “to hurry”), Latin spēs (“hope, expectation”), spērō (“hope”, verb), perhaps also to Ancient Greek σπεύδω (speúdō, “to urge on, hasten, press on”).
From Middle English speden, from Old English spēdan (“to speed, prosper, succeed, have success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdijan (“to succeed”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“to meet with success, assist, promote, accomplish, speed”), Dutch spoeden (“to hurry, rush”), Low German spoden, spöden (“to hasten, speed”), German sputen, spuden (“to speed”).
Uncountable when referring to the general rate of movement ('the speed of sound'). Countable when referring to specific settings or gears ('different shutter speeds', 'a five-speed bike').
driving with a high speeddriving at a high speedThe preposition 'at' is used to specify the rate of speed.