velocity
n. C / Un. the speed at which something moves in a specific direction. You often hear this word in science, but people also use it to talk about how fast a project or business is moving.
n. the speed of an object in a given direction, or the general rapidity of motion or action. In physics, it represents a vector quantity, distinguishing it from scalar speed.
The car reached a high velocity on the empty highway.
The spacecraft must reach escape velocity to break free from the planet's gravitational pull.
As the startup gained market traction, the velocity of its product releases increased, leaving slower competitors struggling to match the pace of innovation.
From Middle French vélocité, from Latin vēlōcitās (“speed”), from vēlōx (“fast”), thus a doublet of veloce.
Uncountable when referring to the general concept of speed; countable when discussing specific rates of motion.