kelvin

See also: Kelvin

English

Etymology

Named after Irish-born Scottish physicist William Thomson, Lord Kelvin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛlvɪn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛlvɪn/, /ˈkɛlvən/, [ˈkʰɛɫvɨn]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlvɪn, -ɛlvən

Noun

kelvin (plural kelvins)

2. In the International System of Units, the base unit of thermodynamic temperature; ¹⁄_273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.

   Alternative forms: K (symbol); °K (the latter is deprecated)

   Synonyms: degree Kelvin, degree absolute (both are deprecated)

   Ice melts above 273.15 kelvins.

   Water boils above 373.15 kelvins.

4. One degree of difference on this scale, as a unit interval.

   Alternative forms: K (symbol); °K (the latter is deprecated)

   Synonyms: degree Kelvin, degree absolute (both are deprecated)

   The dew point here today is only 1 kelvin above what it was yesterday.

   The interval between the freezing and boiling points of water is 100 kelvins.

5. A measurement of color warmth defined by the temperature kelvin at which an incandescent blackbody would emit a given color.

Usage notes

• As with all SI units, the ordinary English plural kelvins is the recommended one; however in literature it is equally common to treat it as an invariant plural, albeit nonstandard.
• The term degree Kelvin is nowadays nonstandard and proscribed.
• One kelvin as a unit interval is the same amount of difference (temperature change) as one degree Celsius as a unit interval. (For example, 0 °C is to 2 °C just as 273.15 K is to 275.15 K.)

Derived terms

• kilokelvin
• microkelvin
• millikelvin
• nanokelvin
• petakelvin
• picokelvin

Translations

SI temperature unit

• Arabic: كِلْفِن m (kilfin)
• Armenian: կելվին (kelvin)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 開爾文 / 开尔文 (hoi¹ ji⁵ man⁴)

  Mandarin: 開爾文 / 开尔文 (zh) (kāi'ěrwén), 克耳文 (kè'ěrwén) (Taiwan)

• Esperanto: kelvino
• Finnish: kelvin (fi)
• French: kelvin (fr) m
• Georgian: კელვინი (ḳelvini)
• German: Kelvin (de) n
• Greek: κέλβιν n (kélvin)
• Hebrew: קלווין (he) m
• Hindi: कैल्विन (kailvin)
• Hungarian: kelvin (hu)
• Indonesian: kelvin
• Japanese: ケルビン (ja) (kerubin)
• Khmer: កែលវិន (kaelvɨn)
• Korean: 켈빈 (kelbin)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کێلڤن (kêlvin)

• Malay: kelvin
• Polish: kelwin (pl) m
• Portuguese: kelvin (pt) m
• Romanian: kelvin (ro) m
• Russian: ке́львин (ru) m (kélʹvin)
• Spanish: kelvin (es) m
• Swedish: kelvin (sv)
• Tagalog: kelbin
• Thai: เคลวิน (kayn-win)
• Turkish: kelvin (tr)
• Vietnamese: kenvin

Further reading

• “kelvin”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɛlvɪn]

Noun

kelvin m inan

1. kelvin (unit of temperature)

Declension

Declension of kelvin (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	kelvin	kelviny
genitive	kelvinu	kelvinů
dative	kelvinu	kelvinům
accusative	kelvin	kelviny
vocative	kelvine	kelviny
locative	kelvinu	kelvinech
instrumental	kelvinem	kelviny

Further reading

• “kelvin”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “kelvin”, in Akademický slovník cizích slov at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz [Academic dictionary of foreign words] (in Czech), 1995

Finnish

Etymology

From English Kelvin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkelʋin/, [ˈk̟e̞lʋin]
• Rhymes: -elʋin
• Syllabification^(key): kel‧vin
• Hyphenation^(key): kel‧vin

Noun

kelvin

1. kelvin (unit of temperature)

Declension

Inflection of kelvin (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		kelvin	kelvinit
genitive		kelvinin	kelvinien
partitive		kelviniä	kelvinejä
illative		kelviniin	kelvineihin
		singular	plural
nominative		kelvin	kelvinit
accusative	nom.	kelvin	kelvinit
	gen.	kelvinin
genitive		kelvinin	kelvinien
partitive		kelviniä	kelvinejä
inessive		kelvinissä	kelvineissä
elative		kelvinistä	kelvineistä
illative		kelviniin	kelvineihin
adessive		kelvinillä	kelvineillä
ablative		kelviniltä	kelvineiltä
allative		kelvinille	kelvineille
essive		kelvininä	kelvineinä
translative		kelviniksi	kelvineiksi
abessive		kelvinittä	kelvineittä
instructive		—	kelvinein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of kelvin (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative kelvinini kelvinini accusative nom. kelvinini kelvinini gen. kelvinini genitive kelvinini kelvinieni partitive kelviniäni kelvinejäni inessive kelvinissäni kelvineissäni elative kelvinistäni kelvineistäni illative kelviniini kelvineihini adessive kelvinilläni kelvineilläni ablative kelviniltäni kelvineiltäni allative kelvinilleni kelvineilleni essive kelvininäni kelvineinäni translative kelvinikseni kelvineikseni abessive kelvinittäni kelvineittäni instructive — — comitative — kelvineineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative kelvinisi kelvinisi accusative nom. kelvinisi kelvinisi gen. kelvinisi genitive kelvinisi kelviniesi partitive kelviniäsi kelvinejäsi inessive kelvinissäsi kelvineissäsi elative kelvinistäsi kelvineistäsi illative kelviniisi kelvineihisi adessive kelvinilläsi kelvineilläsi ablative kelviniltäsi kelvineiltäsi allative kelvinillesi kelvineillesi essive kelvininäsi kelvineinäsi translative kelviniksesi kelvineiksesi abessive kelvinittäsi kelvineittäsi instructive — — comitative — kelvineinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative kelvinimme kelvinimme accusative nom. kelvinimme kelvinimme gen. kelvinimme genitive kelvinimme kelviniemme partitive kelviniämme kelvinejämme inessive kelvinissämme kelvineissämme elative kelvinistämme kelvineistämme illative kelviniimme kelvineihimme adessive kelvinillämme kelvineillämme ablative kelviniltämme kelvineiltämme allative kelvinillemme kelvineillemme essive kelvininämme kelvineinämme translative kelviniksemme kelvineiksemme abessive kelvinittämme kelvineittämme instructive — — comitative — kelvineinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative kelvininne kelvininne accusative nom. kelvininne kelvininne gen. kelvininne genitive kelvininne kelvinienne partitive kelviniänne kelvinejänne inessive kelvinissänne kelvineissänne elative kelvinistänne kelvineistänne illative kelviniinne kelvineihinne adessive kelvinillänne kelvineillänne ablative kelviniltänne kelvineiltänne allative kelvinillenne kelvineillenne essive kelvininänne kelvineinänne translative kelviniksenne kelvineiksenne abessive kelvinittänne kelvineittänne instructive — — comitative — kelvineinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative kelvininsä kelvininsä accusative nom. kelvininsä kelvininsä gen. kelvininsä genitive kelvininsä kelviniensä partitive kelviniään kelviniänsä kelvinejään kelvinejänsä inessive kelvinissään kelvinissänsä kelvineissään kelvineissänsä elative kelvinistään kelvinistänsä kelvineistään kelvineistänsä illative kelviniinsä kelvineihinsä adessive kelvinillään kelvinillänsä kelvineillään kelvineillänsä ablative kelviniltään kelviniltänsä kelvineiltään kelvineiltänsä allative kelvinilleen kelvinillensä kelvineilleen kelvineillensä essive kelvininään kelvininänsä kelvineinään kelvineinänsä translative kelvinikseen kelviniksensä kelvineikseen kelvineiksensä abessive kelvinittään kelvinittänsä kelvineittään kelvineittänsä instructive — — comitative — kelvineineen kelvineinensä

Derived terms

compounds

• kelvinasteikko

Further reading

• “kelvin”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

Anagrams

• kilven

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛl.vɛ̃/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

kelvin m (plural kelvins)

1. a kelvin (unit of temperature)

Further reading

• “kelvin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɛlvin]
• Hyphenation: kel‧vin
• Rhymes: -in

Noun

kelvin (plural kelvinek)

1. kelvin (base unit of thermodynamic temperature)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	kelvin	kelvinek
accusative	kelvint	kelvineket
dative	kelvinnek	kelvineknek
instrumental	kelvinnel	kelvinekkel
causal-final	kelvinért	kelvinekért
translative	kelvinné	kelvinekké
terminative	kelvinig	kelvinekig
essive-formal	kelvinként	kelvinekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	kelvinben	kelvinekben
superessive	kelvinen	kelvineken
adessive	kelvinnél	kelvineknél
illative	kelvinbe	kelvinekbe
sublative	kelvinre	kelvinekre
allative	kelvinhez	kelvinekhez
elative	kelvinből	kelvinekből
delative	kelvinről	kelvinekről
ablative	kelvintől	kelvinektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	kelviné	kelvineké
non-attributive possessive – plural	kelvinéi	kelvinekéi

Possessive forms of kelvin

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	kelvinem	kelvinjeim
2nd person sing.	kelvined	kelvinjeid
3rd person sing.	kelvinje	kelvinjei
1st person plural	kelvinünk	kelvinjeink
2nd person plural	kelvinetek	kelvinjeitek
3rd person plural	kelvinjük	kelvinjeik

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkew.vĩ/ [ˈkeʊ̯.vĩ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛl.vin/ [ˈkɛɫ.vin]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛl.vin/ [ˈkɛɫ.vin]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛl.bin/ [ˈkɛɫ.βin]

Noun

kelvin m (plural kelvins)

1. kelvin (SI temperature unit)

Further reading

• “kelvin”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English kelvin or French kelvin.

Noun

kelvin m (uncountable)

1. a kelvin (unit of temperature)

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	kelvin	kelvinul
genitive-dative	kelvin	kelvinului
vocative	kelvinule

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kělʋiːn/
• Hyphenation: kel‧vin

Noun

kèlvīn m inan (Cyrillic spelling кѐлвӣн)

1. kelvin

Declension

Declension of kelvin

	singular	plural
nominative	kèlvīn	kelvini
genitive	kelvína	kelvina
dative	kelvinu	kelvinima
accusative	kelvin	kelvine
vocative	kelvine	kelvini
locative	kelvinu	kelvinima
instrumental	kelvinom	kelvinima

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkelbin/ [ˈkel.β̞ĩn]
• Rhymes: -elbin
• Syllabification: kel‧vin

Noun

kelvin m (plural kelvins)

1. kelvin (SI temperature unit)

Further reading

• “kelvin”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025