antiferromagnetism
|an-ti-fer-ro-mag-net-ism|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.ti.fɛr.oʊˈmæɡ.nəˌtɪz.əm/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.ti.fɛə.rəˈmæɡ.nɪ.tɪz(ə)m/
neighboring magnetic moments align oppositely
Etymology
'antiferromagnetism' originates from English, formed by the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') combined with 'ferromagnetism' (from Latin 'ferrum' meaning 'iron' and Greek 'magnētēs' meaning 'magnet').
'ferromagnetism' itself derives from Latin 'ferrum' ('iron') plus 'magnetism' (from Greek 'magnētis', 'magnet'), and the compound 'antiferromagnetism' was coined in 20th-century physics literature (introduced in the 1930s in the work of L. Néel and contemporaries) to name magnetic ordering opposite in sign to ferromagnetism.
Initially, the components simply indicated 'against iron-like magnetism,' but the term evolved into the technical label for materials whose neighboring magnetic moments align antiparallel, not merely a phrase meaning 'opposed to iron magnetism.'
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a type of magnetic ordering in which adjacent atomic or ionic magnetic moments (spins) align in opposite directions, resulting in little or no net macroscopic magnetization; often observed below a characteristic Néel temperature.
Antiferromagnetism in manganese oxide (MnO) causes neighboring spins to align oppositely below its Néel temperature, producing no net magnetization.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/01 03:21