English edit

Etymology edit

Ancient Greek privative + to heat: compare French athermane.

Adjective edit

athermanous (not comparable)

  1. Not transmitting heat.
    • 1862, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Report of the Annual Meeting, page 100:
      We see also why in an athermanous body an increase of thickness does not augment the radiation, —the reason being that, since it is already athermanous, this increase cannot possibly make it absorb more heat, and therefore cannot make it radiate more.
    • [1871, James Clerk Maxwell, Theory of Heat, page 13:
      Substances which admit of radiation taking place through them are called Diathermanous. Those which do not allow heat to pass through them without becoming themselves hot are called Athermanous.]
    • 1915, Sir Richard Gregory, Harry Edwin Hadley, A Manual of Mechanics and Heat, page 281:
      Substances which are transparent to visible light waves are not necessarily transparent to radiant heat waves. Thus glass is distinctly athermanous.
    • 2005, Axel von Starck, Alfred Mühlbauer, Carl Kramer, Handbook of Thermoprocessing Technologies:
      A closed hollow solid whose athermanous sides have the same temperature (thermodynamic equilibrium) , is filled with "black-body radiation“.

Antonyms edit

Translations edit