Electricity. noting or pertaining to electricity or electric currents, especially when produced by chemical action, as in a cell; galvanic.
(initial capital letter) of or relating to Alessandro Volta.
of or relating to Burkina Faso, formerly known as Upper Volta
denoting, belonging to, or relating to the Gur group of African languages
1805–15; after A. Volta; see -ic
First recorded in 1935–40; Volta ( def. 2 ) + -ic ( def. 1 )
Voltaic describes a chemical reaction that results in electrical energy. Batteries are the most common voltaic devices. While the adjective voltaic specifically refers to the chemical process that occurs in a battery, it's often used to mean simply "relating to electricity." You might notice the word's similarity to volt, a basic unit of electricity. The two words share a root, Volta, the last name of the Italian physicist who invented the electric battery in 1800.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I have just completed a curious voltaic pile which I think you would like to see,” he wrote.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 29, 2017
A battery is a multiple connection of voltaic cells, as shown in Figure 21.18.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
The lineup spans the early, voltaic work of William Forsythe, and includes pieces by Francesca Harper and Elisa Monte.
From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2014
The photo voltaic panels would make my house, which is over 300 years old, carbon negative.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2009
Zincode, zing′kōd, n. the negative pole of a voltaic battery: the anode of an electrolytic cell.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
The South African Photo Voltaic Industry Association says capital expenditure and component inflation have risen by up to 40% for solar projects since companies locked in tariffs last August.
From Reuters ● Jul. 21, 2022
The images, blown up larger than their original print sizes, show Fula, Malian and Voltaic teenagers and twentysomethings posing and wielding props in a studio decorated with backdrops painted by artists from Ghana.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2018
Along with Senegal, Dahomey and the Voltaic Republic, the French Sudan completed the formation of the Mali Federation -an area of 680,000 square miles and 10 million people, with headquarters in Dakar.
From Time Magazine Archive
His lobbyists were less successful in the Voltaic Republic, though they had recently sent a truckload of wedding gifts to the emperor of the country's Mossi tribe.
From Time Magazine Archive
The case is substantially the same as that of the Voltaic battery when it performs external work, or produces external heat.
From Fragments of science, V. 1-2 by Tyndall, John
Definitions 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.
