thermal

thermal

See also: Thermal and -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)

1. 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.

2. (fabric) Providing efficient insulation so as to keep the body warm.
3. Caused or brought about by heat.
4. (stone) Having a rough finish by treatment with a blow-torch.

Hyponyms

• aerothermal
• hydrothermal

Derived terms

• thermalise
• thermalize
• thermally
• thermal shock

Related terms

• therm
• thermo-

Translations

pertaining to heat or temperature

Bulgarian: топлинен (toplinen), термичен (termičen) Danish: termisk Finnish: lämpö- (fi), terminen (fi) French: thermique (fr) German: thermisch (de) Ido: termala Irish: teirmeach Italian: termico (it) Mandarin: (please verify) 热量的, 烫的, 温泉的, 导热的 Norwegian: Bokmål: termisk Nynorsk: termisk Portuguese: térmico (pt), termal (pt) Romanian: termal (ro), termic (ro) Russian: теплово́й (ru) (teplovój), терма́льный (ru) (termálʹnyj), терми́ческий (ru) (termíčeskij) Spanish: termal (es) Swedish: termisk (sv)

providing efficient insulation so as to keep the body warm

Finnish: lämpö- (fi), terminen (fi) French: thermique (fr) Spanish: termal (es)

caused, brought about by heat

French: thermique (fr) Italian: termico (it) Portuguese: térmico (pt) Spanish: térmico (es)

Noun

thermal (plural thermals)

1. (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.

Synonyms

• thermal column

 

Coordinate terms

• devil
• dust devil
• fire devil
• landspout
• spout
• steam devil
• waterspout

 

Translations

column of rising air

Dutch: thermiek (nl) m Finnish: termiikki French: thermique (fr) m German: Thermik (de) Italian: corrente ascensionale Mandarin: (please verify) 上升暖气流 Romanian: curent ascensional m, curent ascendent

Verb

thermal (third-person singular simple present thermals, present participle thermaling or thermalling, simple past and past participle thermaled or thermalled)

1. (stone) To create a rough finish on stone by treating it with a high-temperature blow-torch.
2. (gliding, often in the present participle) To fly an unpowered aircraft in a (thermal) column of rising air.

Coordinate terms

• edge (creating a finish on stone)
• thermal edge (creating a finish on stone)
• gliding (fly an unpowered aircraft)

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

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French

Etymology

From Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛʁ.mal/

Adjective

thermal (feminine thermale, masculine plural thermaux, feminine plural thermales)

1. thermal

Descendants

• → Romanian: termal
• → Turkish: termal

Further reading

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

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Interlingua

Adjective

thermal (not comparable)

1. thermal

Related terms

• thermic