-
ampere
amperenounthe 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
AmpèrenounAndré Marie 1775–1836, French physicist.
ampere
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
-
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
-
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
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ampere
First recorded in 1881; named after A. M. Ampère
Vocabulary lists containing ampere
2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Electricity and Magnetism - Introductory
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Physical Science - Energy - Introductory
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
An ampere is the flow of one coulomb through an area in one second.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
But you might not expect that the force between wires is used to define the ampere.
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
Light from a 25 ampere arc lamp for 2 to 5 minutes, at a distance of 18 inches, will generally suffice to "print" the impression on the metal sheets.
From Wireless Transmission of Photographs Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged 1919 by Marcus J. Martin
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
Ampère developed the theory of electro-magnetism, and proposed to the French Academy in 1820 a plan for a telegraph, in which there was to be a needle for each letter.
From Famous Men of Science by Sarah K. Bolton
It was in that year that Ampère discovered that magnetism is the circulation of currents of electricity at right angles to the axis of the needle or bar joining the two poles of the magnet.
From Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle
Figure 2.—“Galvanometer” was the name given by Bischof to this goldleaf electrostatic instrument in 1802, 18 years before Ampère coupled the word with the use of Oersted’s electromagnetic experiment as an indicating device.
From The Earliest Electromagnetic Instruments by Robert A. Chipman
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.