thermal

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: ther=mal

CIDE DICTIONARY

thermal, a. [L. thermae hot springs, fr. Gr. , pl. of heat, fr. hot, warm, to warm, make hot; perhaps akin to L. formus warm, and E. forceps.].

•  Of or pertaining to heat; warm; hot; as, the thermal unit; thermal waters.  [1913 Webster]

  "The thermal condition of the earth."  [1913 Webster]
•  caused by or affected by heat; as, thermal springs.  [PJC]
•  designed to retain heat; as, thermal underwear.  [PJC]

Thermal conductivity, Thermal spectrum. See under Conductivity, and Spectrum. -- Thermal unit (Physics), a unit chosen for the comparison or calculation of quantities of heat. The unit most commonly employed is the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of one gram or one pound of water from zero to one degree Centigrade. See Calorie, and under Unit.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

thermal, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 of, for, or producing heat.
2 promoting the retention of heat (thermal underwear).
--n. a rising current of heated air (used by gliders, balloons, and birds to gain height).

Idiom

British thermal unit the amount of heat needed to raise
1 lb. of water at maximum density through one degree Fahrenheit, equivalent to 1.055 x 10(3) joules. thermal capacity the number of heat units needed to raise the temperature of a body by one degree. thermal neutron a neutron in thermal equilibrium with its surroundings. thermal reactor a nuclear reactor using thermal neutrons. thermal springs springs of naturally hot water. thermal unit a unit for measuring heat.

Derivative

thermalize v.tr. & intr. (also -ise). thermalization n. thermally adv.

Etymology

F (as THERM)

THESAURUS

thermal

aestival, blood-hot, blood-warm, calid, equatorial, fire storm, genial, hot air, luke, lukewarm, mild, room-temperature, subtropical, summery, sunny, sunshiny, superheated air, temperate, tepid, thermic, toasty, tropical, unfrozen, warm, warm as toast, warmish

ROGET THESAURUS

thermal

Levity

N levity, lightness, imponderability, buoyancy, volatility, feather, dust, mote, down, thistle, down, flue, cobweb, gossamer, straw, cork, bubble, balloon, float, buoy, ether, air, leaven, ferment, barm, yeast, lighter-than-air balloon, helium balloon, hydrogen balloon, hot air balloon, convection, thermal draft, thermal, light, subtile, airy, imponderous, imponderable, astatic, weightless, ethereal, sublimated, gossamery, suberose, suberous, uncompressed, volatile, buoyant, floating, portable, light as a feather, light as a thistle, light as air, lighter than air, rise like a balloon, float like a balloon.

Heat

N heat, caloric, temperature, warmth, fervor, calidity, incalescence, incandescence, glow, flush, fever, hectic, phlogiston, fire, spark, scintillation, flash, flame, blaze, bonfire, firework, pyrotechnics, pyrotechny, wildfire, sheet of fire, lambent flame, devouring element, adiathermancy, recalescence, summer, dog days, canicular days, baking, heat, white heat, tropical heat, Afric heat, Bengal heat, summer heat, blood heat, sirocco, simoom, broiling sun, insolation, warming, sun, pyrology, thermology, thermotics, thermodynamics, thermometer, calorie, gram-calorie, small calorie, kilocalorie, kilogram calorie, large calorie, British Thermal Unit, B, T, U, therm, quad, degrees Kelvin, kelvins, degrees centigrade, degrees Celsius, degrees Fahrenheit, hot, warm, mild, genial, tepid, lukewarm, unfrozen, thermal, thermic, calorific, fervent, fervid, ardent, aglow, sunny, torrid, tropical, estival, canicular, steamy, close, sultry, stifling, stuffy, suffocating, oppressive, reeking, baking, red hot, white hot, smoking hot, burning, hot, piping hot, like a furnace, like an oven, burning, hot as fire, hot as pepper, hot enough to roast an ox, hot enough to boil an egg, fiery, incandescent, incalescent, candent, ebullient, glowing, smoking, live, on fire, dazzling, in flames, blazing, in a blaze, alight, afire, ablaze, unquenched, unextinguished, smoldering, in a heat, in a glow, in a fever, in a perspiration, in a sweat, sudorific, sweltering, sweltered, blood hot, blood warm, warm as a toast, warm as wool, volcanic, plutonic, igneous, isothermal, isothermic, isotheral, not a breath of air, whirlwinds of tempestuous fire.