voltaic pile

American  

noun

Electricity.

1. an early battery cell, consisting of several metal disks, each made of one of two dissimilar metals, arranged in an alternating series, and separated by pads moistened with an electrolyte.

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voltaic pile British  

noun

1. Also called: pile, galvanic pile, Volta's pile. an early form of battery consisting of a pile of paired plates of dissimilar metals, such as zinc and copper, each pair being separated from the next by a pad moistened with an electrolyte

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voltaic pile Scientific  

1. A source of electricity consisting of a number of disks that alternate between two different metals and are separated by acid-moistened pads, forming a set of galvanic cells connected in series.

2. See more at galvanic See Note at battery

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Etymology

Origin of voltaic pile

First recorded in 1805–15

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

voltaic pile

His system uses the same mechanism as the voltaic pile, the world's first electrical battery giving a continuous current invented in 1799 by Alessandro Volta.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

“I have just completed a curious voltaic pile which I think you would like to see,” he wrote.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 29, 2017

The first extends from the date of publication of Gilbert’s great treatise in 1600 to the invention by Volta of the voltaic pile and the first production of the electric current in 1799.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 2 "Ehud" to "Electroscope" by Various

When this argument, which he employed independently, had clearly fixed itself in his mind, Faraday never cared to experiment further on the source of electricity in the voltaic pile.

From Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall

I had in my car a voltaic pile, consisting of sixty couples—silver and zinc.

From Wonderful Balloon Ascents by F. (Fulgence) Marion

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