coldness

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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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