electric atmospheren.
/ᵻˌlɛktrɪk ˈatməsfɪə/, U.S. /əˌlɛktrɪk ˈætməˌsfɪ(ə)r/, /iˌlɛktrɪk ˈætməˌsfɪ(ə)r/ Now historical.
The space around an electrically charged object within which its electrical properties are manifested.This corresponds to what is now called an electric field.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > area of influence > [noun] > electrical atmosphere
electrical atmosphere1668
aura1737
electric atmosphere1745
1745 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 196/1 Large and deep casks filled with pitch were a great help to M. Bose; they gather about them an electric atmosphere, which penetrates a man.
1760 J. Wesley Desideratum 19 The Resistence of all Bodies..is exerted at their Surfaces, and caused by an electric Atmosphere of different Densities.
1879 G. B. Prescott Speaking Telephone (new ed.) 104 A wire bearing an electric current seems to be for the time surrounded by an electric atmosphere.
1971 Notes & Rec. Royal Soc. 26 179 Franklin used a modified version of Canton's ‘electric atmospheres’ in his explanation of the repulsion of positively charged bodies.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1745