phys·ics (f z ks)n. 1. (used with a sing. verb) The science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two, grouped in traditional fields such as acoustics, optics, mechanics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism, as well as in modern extensions including atomic and nuclear physics, cryogenics, solid-state physics, particle physics, and plasma physics. 2. (used with a pl. verb) Physical properties, interactions, processes, or laws: the physics of supersonic flight. 3. (used with a sing. verb) Archaic The study of the natural or material world and phenomena; natural philosophy. [From Latin physica, from Greek (ta) phusika, from neuter pl. of phusikos, of nature; see physics.] |
physics [ˈfɪzɪks]
n (functioning as singular)
1. (Physics / General Physics) the branch of science concerned with the properties of matter and energy and the relationships between them. It is based on mathematics and traditionally includes mechanics, optics, electricity and magnetism, acoustics, and heat. Modern physics, based on quantum theory, includes atomic, nuclear, particle, and solid-state studies. It can also embrace applied fields such as geophysics and meteorology
2. (Physics / General Physics) physical properties of behaviour the physics of the electron
3. (Physics / General Physics) Archaic natural science or natural philosophy
[from Latin physica, translation of Greek ta phusika natural things, from phusis nature]
| physics (fzks) 1. The scientific study of matter, energy, space, and time, and of the relations between them. 2. The behavior of a given physical system, especially as understood by a physical theory. |
Physics
the state or quality of having different properties along different axes. See also botany. — anisotropic, adj.
the condition of constant, uninterrupted variability of direction or position. — astatic, adj.
the theory of atoms.
the branch of physics that deals with living things. — biophysicist, n. — biophysical, adj.
the study of heat and electricity.
the science that studies crystallization and the forms and structures of crystals. — crystallographer, n. — crystallographic, crystallographical, adj.
a property of certain materials of being repelled by both poles of a magnet, thus taking a position at right angles to the magnet’s lines of influence.
the measurement of energy used in doing work. — dynamometer, n. — dynamometric, dynamometrical, adj.
orientation in relation to a current of electricity. — electrotropic, adj.
the branch of physics that studies energy and its transformation. — energeticist, n. — energeticistic, adj.
a doctrine that asserts that certain phenomena can be explained in terms of energy. — energist, n.
the application of alternating electrical current for therapeutic purposes. — faradic, adj.
the determination of focal length. — focimetric, adj.
static electricity. Also called Franklinic electricity.
a direct electrical current, especially one produced by chemical action. — galvanic, adj.
a work on the production of electric current by chemical means. — galvanologist, n. — galvanological, adj.
the measurement of the strength of electric currents, by means of a galvanometer. — galvanometric, galvanometrical, adj.
the physics of the earth, including oceanography, volcanology, seismology, etc. — geophysicist, n. — geophysical, adj.
the study of the behavior of rotating solid bodies. — gyrostatic, adj. — gyrostatically, adv.
Chemistry. the study of salts. Also called halotechny.
the similarity of the crystalline forms of substances that have different chemical compositions. — homeomorphous, adj.
1. the science concerned with the laws governing water and other liquids in motion and their engineering applications.
2. applied or practical hydrodynamics.
2. applied or practical hydrodynamics.
the study of forces that act on or are produced by liquids. Also called hydromechanics. — hydrodynamic, hydrodynamical, adj.
the branch of hydrodynamics dealing with the laws of gases or liquids in motion. — hydrokinetic, adj.
hydrodynamics. — hygrometric, hygrometrical, adj.
the study of the equilibrium and pressure of liquids. — hydrostatician, n. — hydrostatic, hydrostatical, adj.
the branch of physics concerned with the measurement of moisture in the air. — hygrometric, hygrometrical, adj.
close similarity between the forms of different crystals. See also biology. — isomorph, n. — isomorphic, adj.
the branch of mechanics that deals with motion without reference to force or mass. — kinematic, kinematical, adj.
the study of magnets and magnetism.
the state exhibited by a crystal, having three unequal axes with one oblique intersection; the state of being monoclinic. See also biology. — monosymmetric, monosymmetrical, adj.
the technology of optical instruments and apparatus.
the study of the wave-forms of changing currents, voltages, or any other quantity that can be translated into electricity, as light or sound waves. — oscillographic, adj.
the measurement of osmotic pressure, or the force a dissolved substance exerts on a semipermeable membrane through which it cannot pass when separated by it from a pure solvent. — osmometric, adj.
the doctrine that explains the universe in physical terms.
the science that studies matter and energy in terms of motion and force. — physicist, n. — physical, adj.
the theory that nature contains no vacuums. Cf. vacuism. — plenist, n.
a property of some crystals of showing variation in color when viewed in transmitted light or from different directions. Also called pleochromatism, polychroism, polychromatism. — pleochroic, pleochromatic, adj.
pleochroism.
the study of fire and heat, especially with regard to chemical analysis.
the measurement of radiant energy by means of a radiometer, an instrument composed of vanes which rotate at speeds proportionate to the intensity of the energy source. — radiometric, adj.
the transformation of radiant energy into sound.
measurement of the distribution of energy in a spectrum by means of a spectrobolometer, an instrument combining a bolometer and a spectroscope. — spectrobolometric, adj.
the branch of mechanics or physics that deals with matter and forces in equilibrium. — statical, adj.
an apparatus for illustrating in graphic form the composition of two simple harmonic motions at right angles.
the science of operating or controlling mechanisms by remote control, especially by radio.
the science or study of the emission of electrons from substances at high temperatures. — thermionic, adj.
the science or study of the equilibrium of heat.
the science and technology of friction, lubrication, and wear.
a property, peculiar to certain crystals, of transmitting light of three different colors when viewed from three different directions. Also called trichromatism. — trichroic, adj.
1. the condition of having, using, or combining three colors.
2. trichroism. — trichromatic, adj.
2. trichroism. — trichromatic, adj.
Rare. the science of rotary motion. — trochilic, adj.
the theory that nature permits vacuums. Cf. plenism. — vacuist, n.
electricity generated by chemical means, as in a cell or battery; galvanism.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. | physics - the science of matter and energy and their interactions; "his favorite subject was physics" phase space - (physics) an ideal space in which the coordinate dimensions represent the variables that are required to describe a system or substance; "a multidimensional phase space" containment - (physics) a system designed to prevent the accidental release of radioactive material from a reactor hodoscope - (physics) scientific instrument that traces the path of a charged particle magnet - (physics) a device that attracts iron and produces a magnetic field meniscus - (physics) the curved upper surface of a nonturbulent liquid in a vertical tube nuclear reactor, reactor - (physics) any of several kinds of apparatus that maintain and control a nuclear reaction for the production of energy or artificial elements metastability - the quality of a physical system that persists in its existing equilibrium when undisturbed (or only slightly disturbed) but able to pass to a more stable equilibrium when sufficiently disturbed isotropy, symmetry - (physics) the property of being isotropic; having the same value when measured in different directions wave-particle duality, duality - (physics) the property of matter and electromagnetic radiation that is characterized by the fact that some properties can be explained best by wave theory and others by particle theory absorption factor, absorptivity - (physics) the property of a body that determines the fraction of the incident radiation or sound flux absorbed or absorbable by the body reluctivity - (physics) the resistance of a material to the establishment of a magnetic field in it rest mass - (physics) the mass of a body as measured when the body is at rest relative to an observer, an inherent property of the body relativistic mass - (physics) the mass of a body in motion relative to the observer: it is equal to the rest mass multiplied by a factor that is greater than 1 and that increases as the magnitude of the velocity increases gravitational mass - (physics) the mass of a body as measured by its gravitational attraction for other bodies inertial mass - (physics) the mass of a body as determined by the second law of motion from the acceleration of the body when it is subjected to a force that is not due to gravity mass energy - (physics) the mass of a body regarded relativistically as energy flux density, flux - (physics) the number of changes in energy flow across a given surface per unit area absorbance, optical density, photographic density, transmission density - (physics) a measure of the extent to which a substance transmits light or other electromagnetic radiation quantum - (physics) the smallest discrete quantity of some physical property that a system can possess (according to quantum theory) attracter, attractor - (physics) a point in the ideal multidimensional phase space that is used to describe a system toward which the system tends to evolve regardless of the starting conditions of the system Bose-Einstein statistics - (physics) statistical law obeyed by a system of particles whose wave function is not changed when two particles are interchanged (the Pauli exclusion principle does not apply) Dalton's law of partial pressures, law of partial pressures, Dalton's law - (chemistry and physics) law stating that the pressure exerted by a mixture of gases equals the sum of the partial pressures of the gases in the mixture; the pressure of a gas in a mixture equals the pressure it would exert if it occupied the same volume alone at the same temperature Boltzmann distribution law, Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law - (physics) a law expressing the distribution of energy among the molecules of a gas in thermal equilibrium Fermi-Dirac statistics - (physics) law obeyed by a systems of particles whose wave function changes when two particles are interchanged (the Pauli exclusion principle applies) Charles's law, Gay-Lussac's law, law of volumes - (physics) the density of an ideal gas at constant pressure varies inversely with the temperature Hooke's law - (physics) the principle that (within the elastic limit) the stress applied to a solid is proportional to the strain produced Kirchhoff's laws - (physics) two laws governing electric networks in which steady currents flow: the sum of all the currents at a point is zero and the sum of the voltage gains and drops around any closed circuit is zero law of gravitation, Newton's law of gravitation - (physics) the law that states any two bodies attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them law of thermodynamics - (physics) a law governing the relations between states of energy in a closed system |
| 2. |  physics - the physical properties, phenomena, and laws of something; "he studied the physics of radiation"natural science - the sciences involved in the study of the physical world and its phenomena acoustics - the study of the physical properties of sound |
physics
noun
Physics
Branches of physics acoustics, aerodynamics, aerostatics, applied physics, astrophysics, atomic physics, biophysics, condensed-matter physics or solid-state physics, cosmology, cryogenics or low-temperature physics, dynamics, electromagnetism, electronics, electrostatics, geophysics, harmonics, high-energy physics or particle physics, kinetics, macrophysics, magnetics or magnetism, magnetostatics, mechanics, mesoscopics, microphysics, nuclear physics, nucleonics, optics, photometry, pneumatics, quantum mechanics, quantum physics, rheology, solar physics, sonics, spectroscopy, statics, statistical mechanics, superaerodynamics, theoretical physics, thermodynamics, thermometry, thermostatics, ultrasonics
Physics terms acceleration, alternating current, ampere, amplifier, angstrom, anion, antimatter, atom, baryon, becquerel, Boyle's law, Brownian motion, cacion, calorie, capacitance, cathode ray, centre of gravity, centrifugal force, centripetal force, charge, Charles' law, conductor, convection, cosmic ray, coulomb, current, cyclotron, decibel, density, diffraction, diffusion, diode, direct current, Doppler effect, earth, electricity, electromotive force, electron, energy, farad, field, fission, fluorescence, force, frequency, friction, fuse, fusion, gamma ray, generator, gravity, half-life, hertz, hyperon, impetus, inductance, inertia, infrared, joule, kelvin, kinetic energy, laser, lens, lepton, luminescence, mass, matter, meson, microwave, moment, momentum, muon, neutrino, neutron, newton, nucleon, nucleus, ohm, Ohm's law, particle, pascal, Planck constant or Planck's constant, potential difference, potential energy, proton, quantum, radiation, radioactivity, radio wave, red shift, reflection, refraction, relativity, resistance, rutherford, semiconductor, simple harmonic motion, spectrum, static electricity, subatomic particle, superconductivity, superfluidity, surface tension, tau particle, tension, terminal velocity, thermostat, transformer, transistor, ultraviolet, vacuum, velocity, viscosity, volt, watt, wave, wavelength, x-ray
Physicists Ernst Abbe (German), Jean Le Rond Alembert (French), Hannes Olaf Gösta Alfvén (Swedish), Luis Walter Alvarez (U.S.), André Marie Ampère (French), Carl David Anderson (U.S.), Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (English), Philip Warren Anderson (U.S.), Anders Jonas Ångström (Swedish), Edward Appleton (English), Archimedes (Greek), Svante August Arrhenius (Swedish), Francis William Aston (English), Pierre Auger (French), Amedeo Avogadro (Italian), Jacques Babinet (French), John Bardeen (U.S.), Heinrich Georg Barkhausen (German), Charles Glover Barkla (English), Nikolai Basov (Russian), Antoine Henri Becquerel (French), Georg von Békésy (U.S.), Daniel Bernoulli (Swiss), Hans Albrecht Bethe (U.S.), Gerd Binnig (German), Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett (English), Felix Bloch (U.S.), Aage Niels Bohr (Danish), Niels (Henrik David) Bohr (Danish), Ludwig Boltzmann (Austrian), Max Born (British), Jagadis Chandra Bose (Indian), Satyendra Nath Bose (Indian), Walter Bothe (German), Robert Boyle (Irish), Walter Houser Brattain (U.S.), Karl Ferdinand Braun (German), Auguste Bravais (French), David Brewster (Scottish), Percy Bridgman (U.S.), Maurice Broglie (French), Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot (French), Henry Cavendish (English), James Chadwick (English), Owen Chamberlain (U.S.), Jacques Charles (French), Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov (Soviet), Frederick Alexander Lindemann Cherwell (English), Rudolf Clausius (German), John Douglas Cockcroft (English), Arthur Holly Compton (U.S.), Leon Cooper (U.S.), Charles Augustin de Coulomb (French), James Watson Cronin (U.S.), William Crookes (English), Marie Curie (French), Pierre Curie (French), John Dalton (English), Clinton Joseph Davisson (U.S.), Peter Joseph Wilhelm Debye (Dutch), James Dewar (Scottish), Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (British), C.J. Doppler (Austrian), Arthur Stanley Eddington (English), Albert Einstein (German-U.S.), Roland von Eötvös (Hungarian), Charles Fabry (French), Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (German), Michael Faraday (British), Gustav Fechner (German), Enrico Fermi (Italian), Richard Feynman (U.S.), Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (French), William Henry Fox Talbot (English), James Franck (U.S.), Joseph von Fraunhofer (German), Augustin Fresnel (French), Otto Frisch (Austrian-British), Klaus Fuchs (German-British), Galileo (Galilei) (Italian), William Gilbert (English), Donald Arthur Glaser (U.S.), Robert Hutchings Goddard (U.S.), Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (French), Hans Geiger (German), Murray Gell-Man (U.S.), Josiah Willard Gibbs (U.S.), Pierre Gassendi (French), Thomas Graham (English), Otto von Guericke (German), Otto Hahn (German), Stephen William Hawking (English), Oliver Heaviside (English), Werner Karl Heisenburg (German), Walter Heitler (German), Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (German), Joseph Henry (U.S.), Gustav Hertz (German), Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (German), Victor Francis Hess (U.S.), Robert Hooke (English), Christiaan Huygens (Dutch), Vladimir Nikolaievich Ipatieff (U.S.), James Hopwood Jeans (English), Brian David Josephson (English), James Prescott Joule (English), Heike Kamerlingh-Onnes (Dutch), Piotr Leonidovich Kapitza (Russian), William Thomson Kelvin (English), John Kerr (Scottish), Gustav Kirchhoff (German), Willis Eugene Lamb (U.S.), Lev Davidovich Landau (Soviet), Samuel Pierpont Langley (U.S.), Pierre Simon Laplace (French), Max Theodor Felix von Laue (German), Ernest Orlando Lawrence (U.S.), Tsung-Dao Lee (U.S.), Frederick Lindemann (German-British), Gabriel Lippman (French), Oliver Lodge (English), Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (Dutch), Edwin McMillan (U.S.), Guglielmo Marconi (Italian), Ernst Mach (Austrian), James Clerk Maxwell (Scottish), Julius Robert von Mayer (German), Lise Meitner (Austrian), Albert Michelson (U.S.), Robert Milikin (U.S.), Henry Gwyn-Jeffreys Moseley (English), Robert Sanderson Mullikin (U.S.), Louis Néel (French), Isaac Newton (English), Georg Simon Ohm (German), Mark Laurence Elwin Oliphant (Australian-British), J(ulius) Robert Oppenheimer (U.S.), Blaise Pascal (French), Wolfgang Pauli (U.S.), Roger Penrose (English), Jean Baptiste Perrin (French), Auguste Piccard (Swiss), Max (Karl Ernst Ludwig) Planck (German), Jules Henri Poincaré (French), Alexander Stepanovich Popov (Russian), Celic Powell (English), Ludwig Prandtl (German), Edward Mill Purcell (U.S.), Isidor Isaac Rabi (U.S.), John William Strutt Rayleigh (English), Owen Willans Richardson (English), Burton Richter (U.S.), Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen (German), Ernest Rutherford (British), Andrei Sakharov (Soviet), Erwin Schrödinger (Austrian), Glenn Seaborg (U.S.), Emilio Sègre (U.S.), William Bradfield Shockley (U.S.), Kai Siegbahn (Swedish), C.P. Snow (English), Johannes Stark (German), Joseph Wilson Swan (English), Leo Szilard (U.S.), Edward Teller (U.S.), Benjamin Thomson (Anglo-American), George Paget Thomson (English), Joseph John Thomson (English), Samuel Chao Chung Ting (U.S.), Evangelista Torricelli (Italian), Charles Hard Townes (U.S.), John Tyndall (Irish), James Van Allen (U.S.), R.J. Van de Graaff (U.S.), Johannes Diderik van der Waals (Dutch), Alessandro Volta (Italian), Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton (Irish), Robert Alexander Watson-Watt (Scottish), Wilhelm Eduard Weber (German), Steven Weinberg (U.S.), John Archibald Wheeler (U.S.), Wilhelm Wien (German), Eugene Paul Wigner (U.S.), Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (Scottish), Chen Ning Yang (U.S.), Thomas Young (English), Hideki Yukawa (Japanese), Fritz Zwicky (Swiss), Vladimir Kosma Zworykin (U.S.)
Translations
physics [ˈfɪzɪks]
physics
n (sing: = subject) → Physik f; the physics of this are quite complex → die physikalischen Zusammenhänge sind hierbei ziemlich komplex
n sg physics [ˈfiziks]
the study of natural phenomena such as heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism etc but not usually chemistry or biology Physics is his main subject at university. fisika فيزياء физика fyzika fysik die Physik φυσική física füüsika علم فیزیک fysiikka physique פִיזִיקָה भौतिक विज्ञान fizika fizika fisika eðlisfræði fisica 物理学 물리학 fizika fizika fizik natuurkunde fysikk fizyka física fizică физика fyzika fizika fizika fysik วิชาฟิสิกส์ fizik 物理學 фізика علم طبعيات môn vật lý 物理学
n physicist [-sist]
a person who studies, or is an expert in, physics. fisikus عالِم طَبيعيّات физик fyzik fysiker der/die Physiker(in) φυσικός (επιστήμονας) físico füüsik فیزیکدان fyysikko physicien/-ienne פִיזִיקַאי भौतिक विज्ञानी fizičar fizikus ahli fisika eðlisfræðingur fisico 物理学者 물리학자 fizikas fiziķis ahli fizik fysicus fysiker fizyk físico fizician физик fyzik fizik fizičar fysiker นักฟิสิกส์ fizikçi 物理學家 фізик عالم طبعيات nhà vật lý 物理学家
physics → فيزياء fyzika fysik Physik φυσική física fysiikka physique fizika fisica 物理学 물리학 natuurkunde fysikk fizyka física физика fysik วิชาฟิสิกส์ fizik vật lý 物理学
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