GC: n

CT: Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. An object that has motion – whether it is vertical or horizontal motion – has kinetic energy. There are many forms of kinetic energy – vibrational (the energy due to vibrational motion), rotational (the energy due to rotational motion), and translational (the energy due to motion from one location to another). To keep matters simple, we will focus upon translational kinetic energy. The amount of translational kinetic energy (from here on, the phrase kinetic energy will refer to translational kinetic energy) that an object has depends upon two variables: the mass (m) of the object and the speed (v) of the object.

S: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/energy/Lesson-1/Kinetic-Energy (last access: 12 February 2015)

N: 1. kinetic (adj). “relating to motion,” 1841, from Greek kinetikos “moving, putting in motion,” from kinetos “moved,” verbal adjective of kinein “to move” (see cite).
Buster Keaton’s subject was kinetic man, a being he approached with the almost metaphysical awe we reserve for a Doppelgänger. This being was, eerily, himself, played by himself, then later in a projection room, watched by himself: an experience never possible to any generation of actors in the previous history of the world. (Hugh Kenner, “The Counterfeiters,” 1968).
Related: Kinetical; kinetically.
energy (n): 1590s, “force of expression,” from Middle French énergie (16c.), from Late Latin energia, from Greek energeia “activity, action, operation,” from energos “active, working,” from en “at” + ergon “work, that which is wrought; business; action”.
Used by Aristotle with a sense of “actuality, reality, existence” (opposed to “potential”) but this was misunderstood in Late Latin and afterward as “force of expression,” as the power which calls up realistic mental pictures. Broader meaning of “power” in English is first recorded 1660s. Scientific use is from 1807. Energy crisis first attested 1970.
2. kinetic energy, form of energy that an object or a particle has by reason of its motion. If work, which transfers energy, is done on an object by applying a net force, the object speeds up and thereby gains kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is a property of a moving object or particle and depends not only on its motion but also on its mass. The kind of motion may be translation (or motion along a path from one place to another), rotation about an axis, vibration, or any combination of motions.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=kinetic+energy&searchmode=none (last access: 12 February 2015). 2. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318130/kinetic-energy (last access: 12 February 2015).

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CR: energy, mechanical energy, potential energy, [ wind energy].