1
physics
: a branch of mechanics (see mechanics sense 1) that deals with forces and their relation primarily to the motion but sometimes also to the equilibrium (see equilibrium sense 2) of bodies
2
: a pattern or process of change, growth, or activity
3
: variation and contrast in force or intensity (as in music)
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
But inquiring into the specifics of familial dynamics is impudent and prying — and a line of questioning that most people would be happy to avoid answering themselves.
—
Miss Manners | Judith Martin, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Feb. 2023
Dalene and Hong were able to articulate the formal architecture through careful ensemble shaping of dynamics and rubato, and brought a single understanding to motives and their evolution.
—Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Feb. 2023
Experts say that faulty popular perceptions of racial dynamics in policing are only part of the issue.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2023
Existing models of glacier dynamics and ice discharge underestimate the actual rate of ice loss in recent decades.
—IEEE Spectrum, 27 Jan. 2023
As should be abundantly clear now, no technology alone can condition humans out of such crowd dynamics.
—WIRED, 19 Jan. 2023
There’s a lot of dynamics to what your record is in early January.
—Scott Springer, The Enquirer, 18 Jan. 2023
Gideon is a somewhat off-putting and divisive member of the BAU, which creates a slew of interesting dynamics between the team and local law enforcement, and also allows the audience to get to know the agents.
—Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 13 Jan. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘dynamics.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
dynam(ic) entry 1 + -ics, after French dynamique dynamic entry 2
First Known Use
Noun
circa 1789, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of dynamics was
circa 1789
Dictionary Entries Near dynamics
Cite this Entry
“Dynamics.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dynamics. Accessed 13 Apr. 2023.
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός dynamikos «powerful», from δύναμις dynamis «power») or dynamic may refer to:
Physics and engineering[edit]
- Dynamics (mechanics)
- Aerodynamics, the study of the motion of air
- Analytical dynamics, the motion of bodies as induced by external forces
- Brownian dynamics, the occurrence of Langevin dynamics in the motion of particles in solution
- File dynamics, stochastic motion of particles in a channel
- Flight dynamics, the science of aircraft and spacecraft design
- Fluid dynamics or hydrodynamics, the study of fluid flow
- Computational fluid dynamics, a way of studying fluid dynamics using numerical methods
- Fractional dynamics, dynamics with integrations and differentiations of fractional orders
- Molecular dynamics, the study of motion on the molecular level
- Langevin dynamics, a mathematical model for stochastic dynamics
- Orbital dynamics, the study of the motion of rockets and spacecraft
- Quantum chromodynamics, a theory of the strong interaction (color force)
- Quantum electrodynamics, a description of how matter and light interact
- Relativistic dynamics, a combination of relativistic and quantum concepts
- Stellar dynamics, a description of the collective motion of stars
- System dynamics, the study of the behavior of complex systems
- Thermodynamics, the study of the relationships between heat and mechanical energy
- Vehicle dynamics
Brands and enterprises[edit]
- Dynamic (record label), an Italian record label in Genoa
- Arrow Dynamics, roller coaster designer
- Boston Dynamics, robot designer
- Crystal Dynamics, video game developer
- General Dynamics, defence contractor
- Microsoft Dynamics, a line of business software
Computer science and mathematics[edit]
- Dynamical energy analysis, a numerical method modelling structure borne sound and vibration in complex structures
- Dynamic program analysis, a set of methods for analyzing computer software
- Dynamic programming, a mathematical optimization method, and a computer programming paradigm
Internet
- Dynamic HTML, technologies for creating interactive and animated web sites
- Dynamic IP, an IP address that changes every time the computer is turned on
- Dynamic web page, a web page with content that varies
Mathematics
- Dynamical system, a concept describing a point’s time dependency
- Topological dynamics, the study of dynamical systems from the viewpoint of general topology
- Symbolic dynamics, a method to model dynamical systems
[edit]
- Group dynamics, the study of social group processes especially
- Population dynamics, in life sciences, the changes in the composition of a population
- Psychodynamics, the study of psychological forces driving human behavior
- Social dynamics, the ability of a society to react to changes
- Spiral Dynamics, a social development theory
Other uses[edit]
- Dynamics (music), the softness or loudness of a sound or note
- DTA Dynamic, a French ultralight trike wing design
- Dynamic microphone, a type of microphone
- Force dynamics, a semantic concept about how entities interact with reference to force
- Ice-sheet dynamics, the motion within large bodies of ice
- Neural oscillation in neurodynamics, a rhythmic pattern in the brain
- Sol Dynamic, a Brazilian paraglider design
- Dynamics (album)
- The Dynamics, American R&B group
See also[edit]
- All pages with titles beginning with dynamic
- All pages with titles containing dynamic
- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
- Kinetics (disambiguation)
- Power (disambiguation)
- Static (disambiguation)
Dynamics refers to the branch of mechanics that deals with the movement of objects and the forces that drive that movement. If you’re taking a physics class, you will likely study dynamics.
Dynamics has its origins in the Greek word dynamis, «force, power.» In physics, dynamics is the study of bodies in motion and changes in that motion, and that idea can be applied to other areas as well. For example, we refer to «group dynamics» as the way people interact and work together. George W. Bush once observed, «Globalization has altered the dynamics in the White House, as well as between the White House and the Treasury.»
Definitions of dynamics
-
noun
the branch of mechanics concerned with the forces that cause motions of bodies
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘dynamics’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From dynamic + -ics.
Pronunciation[edit]
-
Audio (southern England) (file)
Noun[edit]
dynamics pl (plural only)
- (mechanics) The branch of mechanics that is concerned with the effects of forces on the motion of objects.
- (music) The volume of the sound, such as piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, and forte.
- Forces that stimulate growth, change, or development.
-
The changing dynamics in international politics led to such an outcome.
-
Derived terms[edit]
- aerodynamics
- biodynamics
- chemodynamics
- chromodynamics
- cliodynamics
- ecodynamics
- electrodynamics
- ferrofluid dynamics
- fluid dynamics
- fluidodynamics
- gas dynamics
- geoecodynamics
- glucodynamics
- group dynamics
- hydrodynamics
- magnetofluidodynamics
- magnetohydrodynamics
- modified Newtonian dynamics
- molecular dynamics
- power dynamics
- psychodynamics
- rigid body dynamics
- social dynamics
- thermodynamics
- thermofluid dynamics
[edit]
- dynamic
- dyne
Translations[edit]
branch of mechanics
- Arabic: دِينَامِيكَا (ar) f (dināmikā), حَرَكِيَّة (ḥarakiyya), حَرَاكِيَّة (ḥarākiyya), دِينَامِيَّة (dīnāmiyya)
- Armenian: դինամիկա (hy) (dinamika)
- Bulgarian: дина́мика (bg) f (dinámika)
- Catalan: dinàmica (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 動力學／动力学 (zh) (dònglìxué)
- Czech: dynamika (cs) f
- Dutch: dynamica (nl) f, stromingsleer (nl) f
- Esperanto: dinamiko
- Finnish: dynamiikka (fi)
- French: dynamique (fr) f
- German: Dynamik (de) f
- Greek: δυναμική (el) f (dynamikí)
- Hungarian: dinamika (hu)
- Italian: dinamica (it) f
- Japanese: 動力学 (ja) (どうりきがく, dōrikigaku), ダイナミクス (dainamikusu)
- Khmer: ថាមវិទ្យា (tham vi tyea)
- Korean: 동역학 (ko) (dong’yeokhak)
- Latvian: dinamika f
- Occitan: dinamica (oc) f
- Persian: دینامیک (fa) (dinâmik), پویایی (puyâyi), پویاشناسی (puyâšenâsi)
- Polish: dynamika (pl) f
- Portuguese: dinâmica (pt) f
- Russian: дина́мика (ru) f (dinámika)
- Slovak: dynamika f
- Spanish: dinámica (es) f
- Swedish: dynamik (sv) c
- Tagalog: isigan, palaisigan (general sense)
- Turkish: dinamik (tr)
- Ukrainian: дина́міка f (dynámika)
See also[edit]
- statics
Further reading[edit]
- Wikipedia article on definition 1
- Wikipedia article on definition 2
dy·nam·ics
(dī-năm′ĭks)
n.
1.
a. (used with a sing. verb) The branch of mechanics that is concerned with the effects of forces on the motion of a body or system of bodies, especially of forces that do not originate within the system itself. Also called kinetics.
b. (used with a pl. verb) The forces and motions that characterize a system: The dynamics of ocean waves are complex.
2. (used with a pl. verb) The social, intellectual, or moral forces that produce activity and change in a given sphere: The dynamics of international trade have influenced our business decisions on this matter.
3. (used with a pl. verb) Variation in force or intensity, especially in musical sound.
4. (used with a sing. verb) Psychodynamics.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
dynamics
(daɪˈnæmɪks)
n
1. (General Physics) (functioning as singular) the branch of mechanics concerned with the forces that change or produce the motions of bodies. Compare statics, kinematics
2. (General Physics) (functioning as singular) the branch of mechanics that includes statics and kinetics. See statics, kinetics
3. (General Physics) (functioning as singular) the branch of any science concerned with forces
4. those forces that produce change in any field or system
5. (Music, other) music
a. the various degrees of loudness called for in performance
b. Also called: dynamic marks or dynamic markings directions and symbols used to indicate degrees of loudness
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
dy•nam•ics
(daɪˈnæm ɪks)
n.
1. (used with a sing. v.) the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion and equilibrium of systems under the action of forces, usu. from outside the system.
2. (used with a pl. v.) the motivating or driving forces in any field or system.
3. (used with a pl. v.) the pattern or history of growth, change, and development in any field.
4. (used with a pl. v.) variation and gradation in the volume of musical sound.
5. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) psychodynamics.
[1780–90]
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
dy·nam·ics
(dī-năm′ĭks)
The branch of physics that deals with the effects of forces on the motions of bodies. Also called kinetics. Compare kinematics.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
| Noun | 1. |  dynamics — the branch of mechanics concerned with the forces that cause motions of bodies
mechanics — the branch of physics concerned with the motion of bodies in a frame of reference ballistics — the science of flight dynamics |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
عِلْمُ القُوى المُتَحَرِّكَه
dynamika
dynamik
dinamikaerõtan
hreyfifræîi, hreyfiaflfræîi
dynamika
dinamik bilgisi
dynamics
[daɪˈnæmɪks] NSING → dinámica f
Collins Spanish Dictionary — Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
dynamics
[daɪˈnæmɪks] n (= science) → dynamique f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
dynamics
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
dynamic
(daiˈnӕmik) adjective
1. concerned with force.
2. (of a person) forceful and very energetic.
dyˈnamically adverbdyˈnamics noun singular
the science that deals with movement and force.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
dy·nam·ics
n. dinámica, estudio de órganos o partes del cuerpo en movimiento.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012