MAGNETISM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does magnetism mean? 

• MAGNETISM (noun)
  The noun MAGNETISM has 2 senses:

1. attraction for iron; associated with electric currents as well as magnets; characterized by fields of force

2. the branch of science that studies magnetism

  Familiarity information: MAGNETISM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MAGNETISM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attraction for iron; associated with electric currents as well as magnets; characterized by fields of force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

magnetic attraction; magnetic force; magnetism

Hypernyms ("magnetism" is a kind of...):

attraction; attractive force (the force by which one object attracts another)

Attribute:

attractive (having the properties of a magnet; the ability to draw or pull)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "magnetism"):

electromagnetism (magnetism produced by an electric current)

antiferromagnetism (magnetic field creates parallel but opposing spins; varies with temperature)

diamagnetism (phenomenon exhibited by materials like copper or bismuth that become magnetized in a magnetic field with a polarity opposite to the magnetic force; unlike iron they are slightly repelled by a magnet)

ferromagnetism (phenomenon exhibited by materials like iron (nickel or cobalt) that become magnetized in a magnetic field and retain their magnetism when the field is removed)

paramagnetism (materials like aluminum or platinum become magnetized in a magnetic field but it disappears when the field is removed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The branch of science that studies magnetism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

magnetics; magnetism

Hypernyms ("magnetism" is a kind of...):

geophysical science; geophysics (geology that uses physical principles to study properties of the earth)

 Context examples 

The researchers also found that even in two dimensions, the material retained its magnetism.

(‘Magnetic graphene’ switches between insulator and conductor, University of Cambridge)

If you are single, your magnetism will be undeniable.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Either way, to understand how atmospheres change, scientists pay close attention to magnetism.

(The ice giant Uranus appears to be losing a bit of its atmosphere to space, NASA)

The branch of physics concerned with the study of the interaction of magnetism with electrical currents and the properties of the currents and magnetic fields that are generated.

(Electromagnetism, NCI Thesaurus)

Our findings call for the careful evaluation and reinterpretation of experiments on 'spin-orbit physics' and magnetism when the interfaces or surfaces of materials with platinum group atoms are involved.

(Iridium 'loses its identity' when interfaced with nickel, National Science Foundation)

When Thornton passed a caressing hand along his back, a snapping and crackling followed the hand, each hair discharging its pent magnetism at the contact.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

By heating and cooling a magnetic material, one can turn its magnetism off and on.

(New Materials Developed by Scientists Able to Move in Response to Light, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

You seem to have a sort of genius for establishing relations with people—seempathy, I suppose, or animal magnetism, or youthful vitality, or something. I am conscious of it myself.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An individual trained and qualified to advise, administer, supervise, or perform research or other professional and scientific work in the investigation and application of the relations between space, time, matter, and energy in the areas of mechanics, sound, optics, heat, electricity, magnetism, radiation, or atomic and nuclear phenomena.

(Physicist, NCI Thesaurus)

Alternatively, perhaps when fine dust particles get lofted by micrometeorite impacts, an existing magnetic field over the swirls sorts them according to their susceptibility to magnetism, forming light and dark patterns with different compositions.

(NASA Research Gives New Insights into How the Moon Got 'Inked', NASA)