Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Displacement \Dis*place"ment\, n. [Cf. F. d['e]placement.]
   1. The act of displacing, or the state of being displaced; a
      putting out of place.

            Unnecessary displacement of funds.    --A. Hamilton.

            The displacement of the sun by parallax. --Whewell.

   2. The quantity of anything, as water, displaced by a
      floating body, as by a ship, the weight of the displaced
      liquid being equal to that of the displacing body.

   3. (Chem.) The process of extracting soluble substances from
      organic material and the like, whereby a quantity of
      saturated solvent is displaced, or removed, for another
      quantity of the solvent.

   {Piston displacement} (Mech.), the volume of the space swept
      through, or weight of steam, water, etc., displaced, in a
      given time, by the piston of a steam engine or pump.