multipolarityn.
/ˌmʌltɪpə(ʊ)ˈlarᵻti/, U.S. /ˈˌməltipəˈlɛrədi/, /ˈˌməltiˌpoʊˈlɛrədi/; see also multi- comb. form. 1. The quality or state of being multipolar; (Politics) the state of having or consisting of more than two opposed or competing alliances, parties, factions, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > spindle or spindle fibre > multipolarity
multipolarity1947
society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > [noun] > multilateral relations
multilateralism1928
bilateralism1949
multipolarity1968
trilateralism1976
1947 Hereditas 33 468 The anaphases..all showed serious disturbances, lagging chromosomes, multipolarity..and so on.
1948 Public Opinion Q. 12 519/1 He also mentions the possibility of a return to multipolarity.
1950 Hereditas 36 395 Multipolarity seems..to be fairly independent of the chromosome number in that highly polyploid bipolar as well as multipolar configurations which contain low chromosome numbers are found.
1968 Guardian 4 Dec. 2/3 NATO..has yet to adjust to the political multipolarity of the late sixties.
1991 Pacific Rev. 4 281/2 These books cover Asia–Pacific as a whole with a common theme of increasingly intricate multipolarity.
2. Physics. The highest order of multipole associated with a state or phenomenon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > quantum theory > quantum mechanics > quantum electrodynamics > [noun] > single charge or pole > system of > highest order of
multipolarity1955
1955 Physical Rev. 98 1198/1 (heading) Multipolarity of gamma transitions in F19 and Na23 by Coulomb excitation.
1973 Nature 31 Aug. 541/1 There have been speculations that other giant resonances with other multipolarities might exist; for example, quadrupole motions in which the nucleon distributions oscillate between prolate and oblate shapes.
1996 Nucl. Physics A. 596 137 Use of the deformed potential can very significantly underestimate the corresponding nuclear transition rate by amounts that increase strongly as the multipolarity increases.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1947