"quantum leap" meaning in English

See quantum leap in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈkwɒntəm liːp/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-quantum leap.wav [US] Forms: quantum leaps [plural]
Etymology: Possibly calque of Danish kvantespring. Etymology templates: {{calque|en|da|kvantespring|nocap=1}} calque of Danish kvantespring Head templates: {{en-noun}} quantum leap (plural quantum leaps)
  1. (quantum mechanics) The discontinuous change of the state of an electron in an atom or molecule from one energy level to another. Categories (topical): Quantum mechanics Translations (electron's state of change): kvantespring [neuter] (Danish), kvantuma salto (Esperanto), kvanttihyppy (Finnish), saut quantique [masculine] (French), Quantensprung [masculine] (German), salto quantico [masculine] (Italian), kvantesprang [neuter] (Norwegian), ква́нтовый скачо́к (kvántovyj skačók) [masculine] (Russian), kvantsprång [neuter] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-quantum_leap-en-noun-WdytSvOU Disambiguation of "electron's state of change": 78 13 9
  2. (figurative) An abrupt, extreme change. Tags: figuratively Synonyms: quantum jump Related terms: quantum entanglement, quantum mechanics, quantum physics, quantum superposition, quantum theory, quantum tunneling Coordinate_terms: step change, paradigm shift Translations (abrupt change): kvantuma salto (Esperanto), hyppäys (Finnish), Quantensprung [masculine] (German), קפיצת מדרגה [feminine] (Hebrew), kvantesprang [neuter] (Norwegian), salto cuántico [masculine] (Spanish), kvantsprång [neuter] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-quantum_leap-en-noun-8CIvTlxy Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 13 82 4 Disambiguation of 'abrupt change': 11 79 10
  3. (figurative, informal, nonstandard) A large, massive, significant change. Tags: figuratively, informal, nonstandard
    Sense id: en-quantum_leap-en-noun-NA40TY-g

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for quantum leap meaning in English (7.5kB)

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          "text": "I was at the elections in Namibia. We had problems there, … But I would say that this is a quantum leap forward when you think of the Mengistu government and the horrible repression, the famine, the tyranny that existed under him, and you see this movement toward freedom and democracy over there. Although there, admittedly, have been problems, this is a giant step in the right direction."
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    },
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      "sense": "electron's state of change",
      "tags": [
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      ],
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    },
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      "tags": [
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    {
      "code": "no",
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      "tags": [
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      ],
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      "tags": [
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      ],
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    },
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      "tags": [
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    },
    {
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      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "abrupt change",
      "word": "kvantuma salto"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "abrupt change",
      "word": "hyppäys"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "abrupt change",
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    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
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      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "קפיצת מדרגה"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "abrupt change",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "kvantesprang"
    },
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        "masculine"
      ],
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      ],
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    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "en:quantum leap (disambiguation)"
  ],
  "word": "quantum leap"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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