Hypertext Webster Gateway: "electromagnet"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Magnet \Mag"net\, n. [OE. magnete, OF. magnete, L. magnes,
-etis, Gr. ? ? a magnet, metal that looked like silver,
prop., Magnesian stone, fr. Gr. ?, a country in Thessaly. Cf.
{Magnesia}, {Manganese}.]
1. The loadstone; a species of iron ore (the ferrosoferric or
magnetic ore, {Fe3O4}) which has the property of
attracting iron and some of its ores, and, when freely
suspended, of pointing to the poles; -- called also
{natural magnet}.
Dinocrates began to make the arched roof of the
temple of Arsino["e] all of magnet, or this
loadstone. --Holland.
Two magnets, heaven and earth, allure to bliss, The
larger loadstone that, the nearer this. --Dryden.
2. (Physics) A bar or mass of steel or iron to which the
peculiar properties of the loadstone have been imparted;
-- called, in distinction from the loadstone, an
{artificial magnet}.
Note: An artificial magnet, produced by the action of a
voltaic or electrical battery, is called an
{electro-magnet}.
{Field magnet} (Physics & Elec.), a magnet used for producing
and maintaining a magnetic field; -- used especially of
the stationary or exciting magnet of a dynamo or
electromotor in distinction from that of the moving
portion or armature.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Electro-magnet \E*lec`tro-mag"net\, n.
A mass, usually of soft iron, but sometimes of some other
magnetic metal, as nickel or cobalt, rendered temporarily
magnetic by being placed within a coil of wire through which
a current of electricity is passing. The metal is generally
in the form of a bar, either straight, or bent into the shape
of a horseshoe.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
electromagnet
n : a temporary magnet made by coiling wire around an iron core;
when current flows in the coil the iron becomes a magnet
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