Wiktionary

coldness

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English coldnesse, from Old English cealdness, cealdnys (“coldness”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaldanassī (“coldness”), equivalent to cold +‎ -ness. Cognate with West Frisian kâldens (“coldness”), Middle Low German koldenisse, kōldenisse (“coldness”), Middle High German kaltnisse, keltnisse (“coldness”).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

coldness (countable and uncountable, plural coldnesses)

  1. The relative lack of heat.
  2. The sensation resulting from exposure to low temperatures.
  3. Limited enthusiasm or affection; coolness.
  4. (physics) The reciprocal of absolute temperature.
    • 1969, W. A. Day, Morton E. Gurtin, Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, volume 33, number 1, Springer, pages 26–32:
      The coldness is the reciprocal of absolute temperature.
    • 1971, Ingo Müller, Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, volume 41, number 5, Springer, pages 319–332:
      (article title) The coldness, a universal function in thermoelastic bodies.
    • 1972, Ingo Müller, Entropy, Absolute Temperature, and Coldness in Thermodynamics: Boundary Conditions in Porous Materials Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, Springer-Verlag, Wein GMBH, page 3:
      This function will be called the coldness, its equilibrium value will be the reciprocal of absolute temperature.
    • 1975, J. Meixner, Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, volume 57, number 3, Springer, pages 281–290:
      (article title) Coldness and Temperature.
    • 1995, Claude Garrod, Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Oxford University Press, page 111:
      α is called the affinity, β the inverse temperature or coldness, and γ the free expansion coefficient.

Translations edit

See also edit

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