Jump To:

• ampere
  ampere

  noun

  the basic unit of electrical current in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one coulomb per second, formally defined to be the constant current which if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross section, and placed one meter apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 × 10 −7 newton per meter of length. A, amp.
• Ampère
  Ampère

  noun

  André Marie 1775–1836, French physicist.

ampere

¹ American  

[am-peer, am-peer] / ˈæm pɪər, æmˈpɪər /

Or ampère

noun

Electricity.

1. the basic unit of electrical current in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one coulomb per second, formally defined to be the constant current which if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross section, and placed one meter apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 × 10 −7 newton per meter of length. A, amp.

---

Ampère ² American  

[am-peer, ahn-per] / ˈæm pɪər, ɑ̃ˈpɛr /

noun

1. André Marie 1775–1836, French physicist.

---

ampere ¹ British  

/ ˈæmpɛə /

noun

1. the basic SI unit of electric current; the constant current that, when maintained in two parallel conductors of infinite length and negligible cross section placed 1 metre apart in free space, produces a force of 2 × 10 ^–7 newton per metre between them. 1 ampere is equivalent to 1 coulomb per second

2. a former unit of electric current ( international ampere ); the current that, when passed through a solution of silver nitrate, deposits silver at the rate of 0.001118 gram per second. 1 international ampere equals 0.999835 ampere

---

Ampère ² British  

/ ˈæmpɛə, ɑ̃pɛr /

noun

1. André Marie (ɑ̃dre mari). 1775–1836, French physicist and mathematician, who made major discoveries in the fields of magnetism and electricity

---

Ampère ¹ Scientific  

/ ăm′pîr′,äm-pĕr′ /

1. French mathematician and physicist who is best known for his analysis of the relationship between magnetic force and electric current. He formulated Ampère's law, which describes the strength of the magnetic field produced by the flow of energy through a conductor. The ampere unit of electric current is named for him.

---

ampere ² Scientific  

/ ăm′pîr′ /

1. The SI unit used to measure electric current. Electric current through any given cross-section (such as a cross-section of a wire) may be measured as the amount of electrical charge moving through that cross-section in one second. One ampere is equal to a flow of one coulomb per second, or a flow of 6.28 × 10 ¹⁸ electrons per second.

---

Other Word Forms

• Amperian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ampere

First recorded in 1881; named after A. M. Ampère

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ampere Ampère

Mr. Hasan said he gets 300,000 Iraqi dinars a month, about $235, from the owner of the generator, who charges local residents 9,000 dinars, about $7, per ampere per month to hook up their homes.

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2017

This is the basis of the operational definition of the ampere.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

For both the ampere and the coulomb, the method of measuring force between conductors is the most accurate in practice.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

The General Conference on Weights and Measures meets in Sèvres, near Paris, to discuss how to redefine the kilogram, ampere, kelvin and mole.

From Nature ● Oct. 12, 2011

The 24-volt lamp consumes about one-tenth of an ampere when fully illuminated, the lamp thus consuming about 2.4 watts.

From Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 2 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. by Samuel McMeen

Renault intends to remain the majority shareholder in its "Ampère" electrical division, which will employ around 10,000 people and could list on the stock market in the second half of 2023.

From Reuters ● Aug. 31, 2022

She had privileged status at sites from the Paris Observatory to the National Museum of Natural History, and in the laboratories of electrical-theory pioneers André-Marie Ampère and Antoine César Becquerel.

From Nature ● Oct. 21, 2014

It has been said that "although Oersted was the discoverer of electro-magnetism and Ampère its expounder, Faraday made the science of magnets electrically what it is at the present day."

From Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle

At the dinner-table the conversation turned upon recent discoveries in electro-magnetism, and the experiments of Ampère with the electro-magnet.

From Famous Men of Science by Sarah K. Bolton

I had wanted to be wise and eloquent, an essay on the younger Ampère had helped me to this ambition, and when I was alone I exaggerated my blunders and was miserable.

From Reveries over Childhood and Youth by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats