[dis.place.ment] n (1611) 1: the act or process of displacing: the state of being displaced
2. a: the volume or weight of a fluid (as water) displaced by a floating body (as a ship) of equal weight b: the difference between the initial position of something (as a body or geometric figure) and any later position c: the volume displaced by a piston (as in a pump or an engine) in a single stroke; also: the total volume so displaced by all the pistons in an internal combustion engine (as in an automobile) 3 a: the redirection of an emotion or impulse from its original object (as an idea or person) to another b: the substitution of another form of behavior for what is usual or expected esp. when the usual response is nonadaptive