thermal

[ thur-muhl ]

adjective

1. Also of, relating to, or caused by heat or temperature:

   Buildings and sealed surfaces have a higher thermal capacity than soil and give up their heat more slowly at night.

   We speed up composting using a thermal treatment.

2. of or relating to hot springs or hot baths:

   The bubbly, hot spring pool derives its name from the character of its thermal waters.

3. designed to aid in or promote the retention of body heat:

   We keep a thermal blanket in the car during winter, just in case.

noun

1. Meteorology. a rising air current caused by heating from the underlying surface, especially such a current when not producing a cloud.
2. thermal energy ( def ).
3. thermals. thermal underwear ( def ).

thermal

/ ˈθɜːməl /

adjective

1. Alsothermicˈθɜːmɪk of, relating to, caused by, or generating heat or increased temperature
2. hot or warm

   thermal spring

   thermal baths

3. (of garments or fabrics) specially designed so as to have exceptional heat-retaining properties

noun

1. meteorol a column of rising air caused by local unequal heating of the land surface, and used by gliders and birds to gain height
2. plural thermal garments, esp underclothes

thermal

/ thûr′məl /

Adjective

1. Relating to heat.

Noun

1. A usually columnar mass of warm air that rises in the lower atmosphere because it is less dense than the air around it. Thermals form because the ground surface is heated unevenly by the Sun. The air usually rises until it is in equilibrium with the air surrounding it.

Derived Forms

• ˈthermally, adverb

Other Words From

• ther·mal·ly adverb
• hy·per·ther·mal adjective
• hy·per·ther·mal·ly adverb
• non·ther·mal adjective
• non·ther·mal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of thermal¹

First recorded in 1750–60; therm- + -al ¹

Example Sentences

This involved some atrociously bad fly fishing, sitting in rocky thermal heated streams and eventually taking a charter on the lake to actually catch some fish.

From Eater

It reduces damage from thermal heat and has a powerful 1,875 wattage.

From Popular-Science

The instrument was going to effectively take the planet’s temperature and tell scientists more about the internal thermal activity and geology of Mars.

From MIT Technology Review

The synthetic fleece will also add a solid moisture wicking thermal layer below her bibs and jacket for ski days this season.

From Outside Online

It’s among the best thermal conductors and the fastest electrical conductors, and it’s also great at letting water through while blocking anything else, making it an excellent filter and barrier.

From Fortune

Williams An Ohio- based corporation that works in the electrical and thermal insulation industry.

From The Daily Beast

Body parts, food, and appliances seen with a thermal imaging camera.

From The Daily Beast

Much of the surface of Mars is covered in fine sand and dust, both of which have low thermal inertia.

From The Daily Beast

Thermal maps of Earth reveal a lot about the past and present, including changing conditions under climate change.

From The Daily Beast

That measure is known as thermal inertia, and it provides information far beyond what we can get from visible light alone.

From The Daily Beast

The temples were usually hygienically located near thermal springs or fountains and among groves.

From Project Gutenberg

We come now to the third point in question, the thermal influence of woods upon the air above them.

From Project Gutenberg

The whole actual amount of thermal influence, however, is so small that I may rest satisfied with mere mention.

From Project Gutenberg

But the one will have absorbed but 63∕4 British thermal units, while the other will have absorbed 91∕2.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet that region is not considered any less safe to visit because of the presence of these thermal phenomena.

From Project Gutenberg

More About Thermal

What does thermal mean?

Thermal means caused by or related to heat or temperature.

The word thermal is used in science to describe a specific kind of energy: thermal energy. Thermal energy is produced by heating up molecules and atoms until they move fast enough to collide into each other. What we experience as heat is a flow of thermal energy. Geothermal energy involves heat generated by the earth.

Outside of science, the word thermal is most often used to mean that something is related to high temperatures or something intended to retain body heat, as in Thermal gloves are insulated to keep your hands warm in the winter. 

Thermal is sometimes used in reference to thermal springs, also known as hot springs.

The plural noun thermals is sometimes used as shorthand for thermal underwear, which is designed to retain body heat.

The word thermic can be used as a synonym of thermal, typically in technical ways in fields such as science or engineering.

Example: Thermal maps show areas of higher and lower temperatures.

Where does thermal come from?

The first records of thermal come from the 1750s. It comes from therm-, a variant of thermo-, which is derived from the Greek word thermós, meaning “hot.”

In everyday life, we usually don’t use thermal, opting for simpler, more specific words when we talk about heat and temperature. For example, we use hot and cold to describe things that have a high (hot) or low (cold) amount of thermal energy or that have a high or low temperature.

Thermal is used in the names of a variety of heat-related products, such as thermal imaging cameras, which use heat sensors, or thermal blankets, which reflect your body heat to keep you warm.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to thermal?

• thermally (adverb)
• hyperthermal (adjective)
• hyperthermally (adverb)
• nonthermal (adjective)

What are some synonyms for thermal?

• thermic

What are some words that share a root or word element with thermal? 

• geothermal
• thermal imaging
• thermal vent
• thermostat
• thermometer
• thermodynamics
• hypothermia

What are some words that often get used in discussing thermal?

• heat
• energy
• temperature
• blanket
• vent
• imaging

How is thermal used in real life?

Thermal is typically used in a scientific context.

Sustainable Methods of Thermal Energy Storage to Bring Drastic Transformationhttps://t.co/tXC5BOy6S0 pic.twitter.com/wZJtWuCkvL

— Renewables News (@RenewablesNews) August 5, 2020

.@NASANPP sees wildfires across Australia; thermal measurements show active fires outlined in red.https://t.co/qIERCO0hP9 pic.twitter.com/HJ9FjMZ63I

— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) July 18, 2017

I will always RT this video demonstration showing how you could handle GLOWING HOT space shuttle thermal tiles right after they came out of an oven at > 2000 K due to their insulating properties. Incredible material science, remarkably COOL (sorry) pic.twitter.com/FQEvumdVL2

— Chris Combs (@DrChrisCombs) September 3, 2020

 

 

Try using thermal!

Is thermal used correctly in the following sentence?

Astronauts collected information about the temperature around Earth and reported the thermal measurements back to ground control.