thermal
English
Etymology
From French thermal, from New Latin *thermalis, from Ancient Greek θέρμη (thérmē, “heat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer- (“to heat, warm”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈθɝməl/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)məl
Adjective
thermal (not comparable)
- Pertaining to heat or temperature.
- 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200:
- Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.
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- (fabric) Providing efficient insulation so as to keep the body warm.
- Caused or brought about by heat.
- (stone) Having a rough finish by treatment with a blow-torch.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- thermalise
- thermalize
- thermally
- thermal shock
Translations
pertaining to heat or temperature
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providing efficient insulation so as to keep the body warm
Noun
thermal (plural thermals)
- (meteorology) A column of rising air in the lower atmosphere created by uneven heating of Earth's surface.
- 2019, Chigozie Obioma, An Orchestra of Minorities, Abacus (2019), page 91:
- The hawk had mounted its thermal by the time he got to the yard, flapping its wings violently against the updraft.
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Synonyms
- thermal column
Coordinate terms
Translations
Verb
thermal (third-person singular simple present thermals, present participle thermaling or thermalling, simple past and past participle thermaled or thermalled)
- (stone) To create a rough finish on stone by treating it with a high-temperature blow-torch.
- (gliding, often in the present participle) To fly an unpowered aircraft in a (thermal) column of rising air.
Coordinate terms
Further reading
- thermal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- “thermal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
French
Etymology
From Ancient Greek.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɛʁ.mal/
Further reading
- “thermal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
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