inertia

The tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest or of a body in straight line motion to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force; the resistance of a body to changes in momentum.

Resistance or disinclination to motion, action, or change.

Lack of activity; sluggishness; passiveness; inertness.

In physics, that property of matter by virtue of which it retains its state of rest or of uniform rectilinear motion so long as no foreign cause changes that state. Also called vis inertiæ (force of inertia).

In medicine, want of activity; sluggishness: a term especially applied to the condition of the uterus when it does not contract properly in parturition.

With regard to a plane or point, the sum of the elements of mass each multiplied by the square of its distance from the given plane or point.

That property of matter by which it tends when at rest to remain so, and when in motion to continue in motion, and in the same straight line or direction, unless acted on by some external force; — sometimes called vis inertiæ. The inertia of a body is proportional to its mass.

Inertness; indisposition to motion, exertion, or action; lack of energy; sluggishness.

Lack of activity; sluggishness; — said especially of the uterus, when, in labor, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased.

See under Center.