electromagneticsn.
/ᵻˌlɛktrə(ʊ)maɡˈnɛtɪks/, U.S. /əˌlɛktrəˌmæɡˈnɛdɪks/, /iˌlɛktrəˌmæɡˈnɛdɪks/ Physics.† 1. With plural agreement. Chemical elements which show electromagnetic properties. Obsolete. rare.
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a1830 P. Barlow Electro-magnetism in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) IV. 25 (caption) Table II.—Containing a comparative series of electro-magnetics by heat.
2. With singular agreement. The science of electromagnetism.
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1831 W. Whewell Let. 1 Sept. in I. Todhunter William Whewell (1876) II. 128 Electricity..could be got from some of the chemists as might electro-magnetics.
1879 Proc. Physical Soc. 3 101 In almost all modern elementary treatises on electromagnetics it is shown that the field of a plane closed circuit is equivalent to that of a lamellar magnetic shell of equal strength.
1926 G. N. Lewis Anat. Sci. iv. 88 The remarkable developments in mechanics and electromagnetics which are now going on promise to reduce these two sciences to a more comprehensive but also a more difficult geometry.
1970 Times 16 Oct. p. iv/3 More often associated with mineral exploration are magnetics, electromagnetics and radiometrics.
2006 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) July 44/1 Lights in negative-index materials behave in such strange ways that theorists have essentially rewritten the book on electromagnetics.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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