dielectric

WOTD – 22 July 2008    

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From dia- (“through”) + electric. Learned 19th-century formation, coined by William Whewell (died 1866).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˌdaɪ.ɪˈlɛk.tɹɪk /, /ˌdaɪ.əˈlɛk.tɹɪk/, X-SAMPA: /%daI.I"lek.trIk/

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Noun

dielectric (plural dielectrics)

1. (physics) An electrically insulating or nonconducting material considered for its electric susceptibility, i.e. its property of polarization when exposed to an external electric field.

Synonyms

• insulator

Derived terms

• dielectric constant
• dielectricity

Translations

physics: nonconducting material

• Bulgarian: изолатор (bg) (izolator) m
• Finnish: eriste (fi)
• German: Dielektrikum (de) n
• Italian: dielettrico (it) m
• Japanese: 誘電体 (yūdentai)

• Polish: dielektryk m izolator m
• Russian: диэлектрик (ru) (dieléktrik) m
• Swedish: dielektrikum (sv) n
• Turkmen: dielektrik (tk)

Adjective

dielectric (comparative more dielectric, superlative most dielectric)

1. (electrically) insulating

Translations

electrically insulating

• Finnish: eristävä (fi), eriste- (fi)