Inertia

inertia |iˈnər sh ə|noun1 a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged : the bureaucraticinertia of government.2 Physics a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force. See also moment of inertia .• [with adj. ] resistance to change in some other physical property :the thermal inertia of the oceans will delay the full rise in temperature for a few decades.DERIVATIVESinertialess |1ˈnərʃələs| adjectiveORIGIN early 18th cent. (sense 2) : from Latin, from iners, inert- (seeinert ).

method |ˈmeθəd|noun (often method for/of)a particular form of procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, esp. a systematic or established one : a method for software maintenance | labor-intensive production methods.• orderliness of thought or behavior; systematic planning or action :historical study is the rigorous combination of knowledge and method.• (often Method) short for method acting .PHRASESthere is method in one's madness there is a sensible foundation for what appears to be foolish or strange behavior. [ORIGIN: from Shakespeare's Hamlet ( ii. ii. 211).]ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [prescribed medical treatment for a disease] ): via Latin from Greek methodos ‘pursuit of knowledge,’ from meta- (expressing development) + hodos ‘way.’

theory |ˈθēərē; ˈθi(ə)rē|noun ( pl. -ries)a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, esp. one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained : Darwin's theory of evolution.• a set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based : a theory of education | music theory.• an idea used to account for a situation or justify a course of action :my theory would be that the place has been seriously mismanaged.• Mathematics a collection of propositions to illustrate the principles of a subject.PHRASESin theory used in describing what is supposed to happen or be possible,usually with the implication that it does not in fact happen : in theory, things can only get better; in practice, they may well become a lot worse.ORIGIN late 16th cent. (denoting a mental scheme of something to be done): via late Latin from Greek theōria ‘contemplation, speculation,’from theōros ‘spectator.’