Definition of Polarity

1. Noun. A relation between two opposite attributes or tendencies. "He viewed it as a balanced polarity between good and evil"

Exact synonyms: Mutual Opposition
Generic synonyms: Oppositeness, Opposition
Derivative terms: Polar

2. Noun. Having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges). "Charges of opposite sign"
Exact synonyms: Sign
Generic synonyms: Oppositeness, Opposition
Specialized synonyms: Positiveness, Positivity, Negativeness, Negativity
Derivative terms: Polar

Definition of Polarity

1. n. That quality or condition of a body in virtue of which it exhibits opposite, or contrasted, properties or powers, in opposite, or contrasted, parts or directions; or a condition giving rise to a contrast of properties corresponding to a contrast of positions, as, for example, attraction and repulsion in the opposite parts of a magnet, the dissimilar phenomena corresponding to the different sides of a polarized ray of light, etc.

Definition of Polarity

1. Noun. The separation, alignment or orientation of something into two opposed poles. ¹

2. Noun. Either of the two extremes of such attributes. ¹

3. Noun. (chemistry) The dipole-dipole intermolecular forces between the slightly positively-charged end of one molecule to the negative end of another or the same molecule. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Polarity

1. the possession of two opposite qualities [n -TIES]

Medical Definition of Polarity

1. Literally having poles (like a magnet), but used to describe cells that have one or more axes of symmetry. In epithelial cells, the polarity meant is between apical and baso lateral regions, in moving cells, having a distinct front and rear. Some cells seem to show multiple axes of polarity (which will hinder forward movement). This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Polarity

polarise
polarised
polarised light
polariser
polarisers
polarises
polarising
polarising microscope
polaristic
polarite
polarities
polariton
polaritonic
polaritonics
polaritons
polarity (current term)
polarity of translation
polarizabilities
polarizability
polarizable
polarization
polarization colours
polarization microscopy
polarizations
polarize
polarized
polarized light
polarized light microscope
polarizer
polarizers

Literary usage of Polarity

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"This arrangement also produces polarity, for there is a real difference between the two ends of the muff. The one is that into which we put our right hand, ..."

2. Projective Geometry by Oswald Veblen, John Wesley Young (1910)
"In the case of a polarity this projectivity is always an involution. In any other correlation the lines upon which this projectivity is ..."

3. Projective Geometry by Oswald Veblen, John Wesley Young (1910)
"In the case of a polarity this pro- jectivity is always an involution. In any other correlation the lines upon which this projectivity is ..."

4. Projective Geometry by Linneaus Wayland Dowling (1917)
"I §152] POLARITIES IN A PLANE AND IN A BUNDLE A uniform polarity in a plane ... Show that in a polarity there is no sheaf of lines all of whose rays are ..."

5. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General by Thomas Spencer Baynes (1888)
"But the term polarity when applied to material figures or substances is ... polarity. —As examples of polarity we may take an awn of barley or a cat's tail, ..."

6. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1917)
"THE CHEMICAL BASIS OF AXIAL polarity IN REGENERATION WHEN a piece of a stem is ... This phenomenon of axial polarity was explained by the older botanists as ..."

7. An Introduction to Cytology by Lester Whyland Sharp (1921)
"For these workers llii.s physiological differentiation is the essential element of polarity; any morphological polarity is due secondarily to it. ..."

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