polarityn.
/pə(ʊ)ˈlarᵻti/, U.S. /pəˈlɛrədi/, /poʊˈlɛrədi/ 1. † b. figurative. Direction of feeling, inclination, etc., towards a single point; tendency or trend in a particular direction; attraction towards a particular object. Obsolete.
a. The tendency of a magnet, lodestone, etc., to point with its extremities to the earth's magnetic poles; the property of possessing magnetic poles; the orientation of a magnetic body or a magnetic field.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > magnetic devices or materials > [noun] > pole of magnet > quality of having
polity1613
polarity1646
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. ii. 59 This polarity from refrigeration upon extremity and in defect of a Loadstone might serve to invigorate and touch a needle anywhere. View more context for this quotation
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. iii. 157 You may change the Polarity of many feeble Stones, by a long Position, in a contrary posture to that which it naturally affects.
a1691 R. Boyle Gen. Hist. Air (1692) 64 One of their compasses which had quite changed the polarity, from north to south, is still extant in that country.
1751 B. Franklin Let. 20 June in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1753) 47 289 By electricity we have here frequently given polarity to needles.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 176 If the bar be inverted, the polarity will be instantly reversed; so that in all cases the lower extremity is, in this hemisphere, the north pole.
1839 H. M. Noad Course Eight Lect. vii. 323 The directive tendency of an electrified wire... That side of the spiral which is towards the north, acts as the north pole; and the south side has an opposite polarity. Each side powerfully attracts iron filings.
1879 tr. T. A. L. Du Moncel Telephone 16 The adjacent poles of the two rods are of opposite polarity.
1935 C. J. Smith Intermediate Physics (ed. 2) v. xxxix. 654 The polarity of a bar magnetized by induction is opposite in sign to that of the nearer pole of the inducing magnet.
1984 A. C. Duxbury & A. Duxbury Introd. World's Oceans iii. 84 The polarity, or north-south orientation, of the earth's magnetic field reverses for varying periods of time.
2000 Wired Apr. 172/2 Parkin's chip operates without electricity, relying on magnetic polarity to store data.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > [noun]
kinda1200
disposingc1380
disposition1393
aptc1400
hieldc1400
remotiona1425
inclination?a1439
incliningc1450
taste1477
intendment1509
benta1535
swing1538
approclivity1546
aptness1548
swinge1548
drift1549
set1567
addiction1570
disposedness1583
swaya1586
leaning1587
intention1594
inflection1597
inclinableness1608
appetite1626
vogue1626
tendency1628
tendence1632
aptitude1633
gravitation1644
propension1644
biasing1645
conducement1646
flexure1652
propendency1660
tend1663
vergencya1665
pend1674
to have a way of1748
polarity1767
appetency1802
drive1885
overleaning1896
1767 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 6 Apr. (1932) (modernized text) VI. 2806 I find you are in motion, and with a polarity to Dresden.
1800 Hist. Eur. in Ann Reg. 61/2 Launching forth on the ocean of possibility..conducted, not merely by shores and landmarks, but chiefly by the polarity of reasons.
1834 H. Rogers in J. Edwards' Wks. I. p. lii This polarity of mind, this intellectual magnetism towards universal truth, has always been a characteristic of the greatest minds.
1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. xii. 265 One great change..affected the polarity of the whole political and geographical organisation of the country.
1878 R. W. Emerson Sov. Ethics in Wks. (1906) III. 381 Now men fall abroad—want polarity—suffer in character and intellect.
2. Physics and Chemistry. Originally: †the tendency of an atom, molecule, etc., to orient itself in a particular direction (like iron filings under the influence of a magnet) (obsolete). In later use: the condition or quality of being polar (polar adj. 5b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical structure or stereochemistry > [noun] > polarization > polarity
polarity1674
1674 W. Petty Disc. before Royal Soc. 128 All Atoms by their Motion of Verticity or Polarity, would draw themselves, like Magnets, into a streight Line, by setting all their Axes in directum to each other.
1756 F. Home Exper. Bleaching 58 In what manner these salts act so as to dissolve the oils, and detach the solid particles, whether from a certain polarity, as Dr. Hales imagines, or from other causes..is not allowed us certainly to know.
1827 N. Arnott Elements Physics I. 33 When atoms are allowed to cohere according to their natural tendencies, they always assume a certain regular arrangement and form, which we call crystalline. Because in this circumstance they seem to resemble magnets, which attract each other only by their poles; the fact has been called the polarity of atoms.
1854 B. Powell Pereira's Lect. Polarized Light (ed. 2) 184 A molecule endowed with unequal attractive forces in different directions may be said to be possessed of polarity.
1872 C. B. Fox Ozone 10 One of the Peroxides is in an opposite condition of polarity to that in the other.
1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. ix. 238 The fatty acid molecule is said to show polarity and the attracted group is said to be polar.
1989 B. Alberts et al. Molecular Biol. Cell (ed. 2) xx. 1141 (caption) Each cellulose molecule has a polarity..and all the molecules in each microfibril have the same polarity.
a. A condition of light such that rays of different wavelength behave differently or have different effects. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1807 T. Young Course Lect. Nat. Philos. I. xxxix. 462 The name of polarity assigned by Newton to a property which he attributes to the particles of light, and which he supposes to direct them in the species of refraction which they are to undergo.
1840 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 130 22 The red rays of the spectrum..are..by no means to be regarded as inactive, but rather..as exciting an action of an opposite nature to that of the blue, violet, and lavender rays. To generalize this conclusion, and to assume a kind of positive and negative polarity in the spectrum, was the first and natural idea which presented itself.
1892 Proc. Royal Soc. 51 p. vii In 1840 he chose as the subject of the Bakerian Lecture the theoretical explanation of an apparently new polarity in light.
b. A polarized condition of light, polarization. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > polarization > [noun] > quality admitting
polarity1813
1812 H. Davy Elements Chem. Philos. 53 The important discoveries..of a property analogous to polarity in light.]
1813 D. Brewster Treat. New Philos. Instruments 335 When polarised light was transmitted through rock crystal, it was depolarised..; while, in another position of the crystal, the polarity of the light was undisturbed.
1867 J. Herschel in G. F. Chambers Descr. Astron. iv. iii. 291 The light reflected from which [cloud]..exhibits no signs of polarity.
1868 Proc. Royal Soc. 17 118 The evidence from polarity, indicating a central source of light. With regard to the latter, it is clear that the light of the corona is polarized in planes passing through the sun's centre.
4. The property of being electrically positive or negative; the property of having current flowing in one or other of two opposite directions. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric polarization > [noun]
polarity1808
polarization1866
constraint1881
the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > subjectivity, relation to self > [noun] > subjective or objective consciousness
polarity1846
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric polarization > [noun] > condition of being positive or negative
polaritya1877
1808 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 98 365 The metals of the fixed alkalies, submitted to intense heat, under electrical polarities, and having the pressure of the atmosphere removed.
1846 R. C. Trench Notes Miracles v. 170 That quick shifting, so to speak, of the polarity, so that at one moment the human consciousness became the positive, at another the negative pole.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 781/2 Alternate currents of opposite character are generated in each set of bobbins, the polarity being changed at the moment of polar passage.
1936 E. A. Atkins & A. G. Walker Electr. Arc & Oxy-acetylene Welding (ed. 3) iii. 24 The switchboard should contain a volt-meter... It should also contain terminals so that the polarity of the cables may be quickly reversed if required.
1974 M. Clifford Encycl. Home Wiring & Electr. i. 4 A direct voltage, abbreviated as DC, is the voltage produced by a source whose polarity does not change.
1986 Professional Photographer Oct. 36/2 When the voltage has dropped beyond its threshold, the polarity of the current to the motor is reversed so the motor runs the other way.
1997 T3 Jan. 60/2 Sound signals are changed into two high voltage signals, opposite in polarity.
5.
a. The quality of exhibiting opposite or contrasted properties or powers in opposite or contrasted directions; the state of having two opposite or contradictory tendencies, opinions, or aspects.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > contrariety or contrast > [noun] > polarity
polarity1818
polarization1862
1818 S. T. Coleridge Gen. Introd. or Treat. on Method 12 in Encycl. Metrop. I Contemplating in all Electrical phenomena the operation of a Law which reigns through all Nature, viz. the law of polarity, or the manifestation of one power by opposite forces.
1841 R. W. Emerson Ess. 1st Ser. (Boston ed.) iii. 80 Polarity, or action and reaction, we meet in every part of nature; in darkness and light; in heat and cold; in the ebb and flow of waters; in male and female.
1866 Duke of Argyll Reign of Law v. 257 One of whose essential properties is Polarity—that is, equal and similar action in opposite directions.
1888 R. Burn Rom. Lit. & Art 43 The Roman women, with that curious polarity which often sets the fashion in exactly the opposite direction to what would be expected, held that a narrow forehead with the hair drawn down over it was pretty and attractive.
1957 New Statesman 2 Nov. 555/3 We must ask ourselves what we can do to break this polarity [between the U.S. and Russia].
1991 C. Mansall Discover Astrol. ii. 24/1 The Seven Youths and Seven Maidens of this myth refer to the Number Seven of the Life Force represented by the Seven Naked Eye Planets according to the polarity of masculine and feminine.
b. As a count noun: one of two opposed aspects or tendencies.
ΚΠ
1858 R. W. Emerson Eloquence in Atlantic Monthly Sept. 396/1 Wherever the polarities meet, wherever the fresh and moral sentiment, the instinct of freedom and duty, come in direct opposition to fossil conservatism and the thirst of gain.
1907 Daily Chron. 19 Jan. 3/3 This transporting elevation of mutual altruism is possible only to those of different sexes. It is the touch of the ethereal male and female polarities.
1972 R. Plant in C. B. Cox & A. E. Dyson 20th-cent. Mind III. iii. 69 The wholly necessary or the wholly contingent, the two polarities of empiricist epistemology.
2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 296/2 They represent innocence and the synthesis of opposite polarities, a common theme in the Tarot.
6.
a. Biology. The possession of poles (pole n.2 11); differential development or distribution along an axis; a tendency towards this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > contrariety or contrast > [noun] > polarity > tendency to develop
polarity1848
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > specific areas or structures > [noun] > end or pole > polarity
polarity1848
polarization1894
1848 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 4) I. 165 This disposition to develope in two diametrically opposite directions, sometimes called polarity, is found in all embryos.
1864 G. J. Allman in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1863 392 There is thus manifested in the formative force of the Tubularia-stem a well-marked polarity, which is rendered very apparent if a segment be cut out from the centre of the stem.
1870 Nature 21 Apr. 634/2 He applies the term ‘polarity’ to the tendency of the vertebrate individual to arrange its organs in two opposing sets, cephalic and caudal, and again dorsal and ventral.
1895 Jrnl. Morphol. 10 322 If we assume the polarity of the egg to be pre-determined from the beginning, we must admit that the polarity determines the position of the segmentation-nucleus.
1901 Amer. Naturalist 35 780 These observations favor the view that epithelial cells possess a true polarity.
1924 E. G. Conklin in E. V. Cowdry Gen. Cytol. ix. 558 The polarity of the egg is the earliest recognizable and most fundamental differentiation of morphogenesis.
1960 K. Esau Anat. Seed Plants ii. 9 The cytologic appearance of the egg—the presence of a large vacuole in its proximal end and dense cytoplasm and nucleus in its distal end—suggests that polarity may be established before fertilization.
1975 R. L. Peterson in J. G. Torrey & D. T. Clarkson Devel. & Function of Roots vii. 146 The inherent polarity in most root segments..manifests itself by the regeneration of buds at the proximal end and roots at the distal end.
1991 L. Wolpert Triumph of Embryo (BNC) 35 The sea-urchin egg has a well-defined polarity from the beginning.
b. Biology. Originally: †the condition of an evolutionary series in which there is marked variation between the forms at either end of the series (obsolete). In later use: evolutionary direction (esp. with respect to character states).
ΚΠ
1853 E. Forbes Addr. Geol. Soc. in G. Wilson & A. Geikie Mem. E. Forbes (1861) xv. 544 We speak of two groups [of animals or vegetables] being in the relation of polarity to each other when the rudimentary forms of each are proximate, and their completer manifestations far apart.
1856 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca iii. 418 This group shews a tendency to ‘polarity’, or excessive development at the ends of the series.
1952 Systematic Zool. 1 51/1 Such a sequence, known as a chronocline, exhibits polarity.
1980 Ann. Rev. Ecol. & Systematics 11 333 It is ironic that the recent literature hardly mentions the crucial early step: the assignment of evolutionary polarity to character states.
1988 Zool. Jrnl. Linn. Soc. 94 5 Evolutionary direction (polarity) of the character-states was determined by outgroup comparison.
1992 Cambr. Encycl. Human Evol. (1994) vi. iv. 223/2 Character polarity: identifying which of the states of a feature are derived, and in what sequence.
2001 Systematic Biol. 50 788/2 In the combined data analysis, however, the morphological characters were considered unordered because additional molecular characters should provide alternative potential polarities.
c. Medicine. More fully uterine polarity. The property of the uterus characterized by the coordination of its muscle so as to relax at the cervix while contracting at the fundus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sex organs > female sex organs > [noun] > womb > contracting or dilating poles of uterus
uterine polarity1881
1881 Trans. Obstetr. Soc. 22 47 The conditions of ‘uterine polarity’ enunciated by Reil at the beginning of this century. This ‘uterine polarity’ is exemplified by the antagonism which exists between the two poles of the uterus, contraction of one being accompanied by dilatation of the other.
1947 Q. Rev. Biol. 22 193/1 Implantation of the rat egg. I. Experimental alteration of uterine polarity.
1985 M. F. Myles Textbk. Midwives (ed. 10) xv. 248 If polarity is disorganised the progress of labour is inhibited.
Compounds
C1.
polarity epoch n. Geology a long period of time (typically of the order of 100,000 to 10,000,000 years) over which the earth's magnetic field is predominantly of one polarity.
ΚΠ
1963 Nature 15 June 1050/1 If the more recent polarity epochs are equal or nearly equal in length, the data of the present study strongly indicate that the epochs must be either ½ or 1 million years long.
1997 J. J. Lowe & M. J. C. Walker Reconstructing Quaternary Environments (ed. 2) 278 Polarity epochs..are interrupted by a large number of polarity reversals of shorter duration (104 to 105 years) which are termed polarity events.
C2. attributive in Alternative Medicine. Designating any of various treatments intended to restore a balanced distribution of the body's energy, typically involving manipulation, exercise, and dietary restrictions; frequently in polarity therapy.
ΚΠ
1953 R. Stone Course Manipulative Therapy 4 The three Gunas as [read are] the three universal principles of motion everywhere; positive, Raja; and negative, Tamas; spinning around a neuter center, Satva. These become the polarity principle in the human body.
1953 R. Stone Course Manipulative Therapy 4 A very light touch thru polarity of the fingers to polarity centers of the body is used.]
1964 R. Stone (title) Polarity therapy principles and practice.
1977 C. McFadden Serial (1978) xviii. 42/1 Currently she was commuting to Berkeley twice a week for ‘polarity balancing manipulation’.
1988 Independent 22 Aug. 3/6 Mervin offers everything from acupuncture..through to..polarity healing (the use of magnets).
1991 Health & Fitness Jan. 95 (advt.) Courses in holistic massage, polarity massage, self awareness.
2000 Yoga May 45/4 (advt.) Introductory workshops covering bodywork, awareness skills, polarity yoga and nutritional principles.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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