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)
- 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
- aerothermal
- hydrothermal
Derived terms
- thermalise
- thermalize
- thermally
- thermal shock
Related terms
- therm
- thermo-
Translations
pertaining to heat or temperature
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providing efficient insulation so as to keep the body warm
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caused, brought about by heat
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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
- devil
- dust devil
- fire devil
- landspout
- spout
- steam devil
- waterspout
Translations
column of rising air
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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
- 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
French
Etymology
From Ancient Greek.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɛʁ.mal/
Adjective
thermal (feminine thermale, masculine plural thermaux, feminine plural thermales)
- thermal
Descendants
- → Romanian: termal
- → Turkish: termal
Further reading
- “thermal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Interlingua
Adjective
thermal (not comparable)
- thermal
Related terms
- thermic