electromotorn.adj.
/ᵻˈlɛktrəʊˌməʊtə/, U.S. /əˈlɛktroʊˌmoʊdər/, /iˈlɛktroʊˌmoʊdər/ A. n.
1. A device producing an electromotive force, a voltaic cell; (also) a metal serving as one of the poles or elements of such a cell. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > voltaic or galvanic battery > [noun] > voltaic element
electromotor1804
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > motor > [noun] > electric
electromotor1879
electric locomotive1880
shunt motor1883
shunt machine1888
repulsion motor1891
rotary converter1891
induction motor1897
traction motor1900
selsyn1926
torque motor1926
synchro1943
magslip1947
1804 C. H. Wilkinson Elements Galvanism II. iii. xiv. 35 Volta speaks of a discovery which still remains to be made,..namely, that of a new electro-motor, composed entirely of solid substances.
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xxiii. 570 Plate or sheet zinc is a powerful electromotor.
1834 London & Edinb. Philos. Mag. 5 351 The electro-motor was a single pair of plates, exposing, perhaps, 3 square feet of surface on both sides of the zinc plate.
1879 G. B. Prescott Speaking Telephone (new ed.) 260 During this year (1855)..Henry M. Paine was then trying to construct a successful electromotor.
1881 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism (ed. 2) I. 453 The..electromotive force of an electromotor may be measured..electrostatically by means of the electrometer.
1954 A. R. Hall Sci. Revolution, 1500–1800 xii. 359 This ‘artificial electrical organ’ (which Volta compared to the natural electrical organs of certain fish), electromotor, or pile, as it was afterwards called,..would yield electricity continuously.
2. A machine for applying electricity as a motive power; an electric motor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > motor > [noun]
motor1853
electromotor1885
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 13 May 11/2 By me swept the trim, engineless, and almost silent railway carriage, driven by an invisible electro motor.
1925 H. C. Booth tr. F. Auerbach Mod. Magnetics (U.K. ed.) vii. 173 The electro-motor is the converse of another piece of apparatus, the generator or machine for producing current (dynamo).
1970 Nature 19 Dec. 1145/1 The application of superconductivity to other electrotechnical fields, such as electromotors, has become a matter of technology.
1999 T. Abe in K. Odaka & M. Sawai Small Firms, Large Concerns ix. 242 Producers were obliged to install power looms to cut cost;..the diffusion of small-sized electromotors accelerated the change.
B. adj.
1. Involving or producing an electromotive force.
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1845 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 135 298 The electro-motor element of the proper current resides in the [frog's] leg alone.
1888 Proc. Royal Soc. 44 182 Analogous electromotor cells are readily obtainable by suitably varying the metal susceptible of oxidation and the electrolytic fluid employed.
1916 Biol. Bull. 30 353 A characteristic electrical variation, the action-current..is best explained as the result of alterations in the electromotor properties of the cell surface.
1963 Science 19 July 263/1 Postsynaptic potentials in response to spinal stimulation rostral to the electromotor nucleus.
1998 Adv. Space Res. 21 1293 Another constituent is the tight coupling of ciliary motility to the membrane potential (electromotor coupling).
2. Producing motive power from electricity; employing an electric motor. rare.
ΚΠ
1881 Science 12 Nov. 542/2 The continuous current-machine of Pacimotti, the electro-thermic and electro-motor apparatus of Becquerel, the electro-capillary apparatus of Lippman; all these..are here collected.
1938 Times 10 Sept. 7/7 The firm's 4 h.p. electro-motor syren has, after two years' testing, been chosen by the Home Office.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1804