thermal

English Online Dictionary. What means thermal‎? What does thermal mean?

English

Etymology

From French thermal, from New Latin *thermalis, from Ancient Greek θέρμη (thérmē, “heat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer- (“to heat, warm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθɝməl/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)məl

Adjective

thermal (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to heat or temperature.
2. (fabric) Providing efficient insulation so as to keep the body warm.
3. Caused or brought about by heat.
4. (stone) Having a rough finish from treatment with a blowtorch.

Hyponyms

• aerothermal
• hydrothermal

Derived terms

Related terms

• therm
• thermo-

Translations

Noun

thermal (plural thermals)

1. (meteorology) A column of rising air in the lower atmosphere created by uneven heating of a planet's surface.

Synonyms

Coordinate terms

Translations

Verb

thermal (third-person singular simple present thermals, present participle thermaling or thermalling, simple past and past participle thermaled or thermalled)

1. (stone) To create a rough finish on stone by treating it with a high-temperature blowtorch.
2. (gliding, often in the present participle) To fly an unpowered aircraft in a thermal (column of rising air).

Coordinate terms

• edge (creating a finish on stone)
• thermal edge (creating a finish on stone)
• gliding (fly an unpowered aircraft)

Further reading

• “thermal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “thermal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

From Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛʁ.mal/

Adjective

thermal (feminine thermale, masculine plural thermaux, feminine plural thermales)

1. thermal

Descendants

• → Romanian: termal
• → Turkish: termal

Further reading

• “thermal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Interlingua

Adjective

thermal (not comparable)

1. thermal

Related terms

• thermic