Hypertext Webster Gateway: "polarity"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Polarity \Po*lar"i*ty\, n. [Cf. F. polarit['e].]
1. (Physics) That quality or condition of a body in virtue of
which it exhibits opposite, or contrasted, properties or
powers, in opposite, or contrasted, parts or directions;
or a condition giving rise to a contrast of properties
corresponding to a contrast of positions, as, for example,
attraction and repulsion in the opposite parts of a
magnet, the dissimilar phenomena corresponding to the
different sides of a polarized ray of light, etc.

2. (Geom.) A property of the conic sections by virtue of
which a given point determines a corresponding right line
and a given right line determines a corresponding point.
See {Polar}, n.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

polarity
n 1: a relation between two opposite attributes or tendencies;
"he viewed it as a balanced polarity between good and
evil" [syn: {mutual opposition}]
2: having an indicated pole (as the distinction between
positive and negative electric charges); "he got the
polarity of the battery reversed"; "charges of opposite
sign" [syn: {sign}]


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