antipolar
|an-ti-po-lar|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.tɪˈpoʊ.lɚ/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.tɪˈpəʊ.lə/
opposite poles
Etymology
'antipolar' is a modern English formation from the prefix 'anti-' and the adjective 'polar'. 'anti-' originates from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against' or 'opposite', and 'polar' comes from Latin 'polaris' (from Greek 'polos') meaning 'axis' or 'pole'.
'polar' entered English via Latin 'polaris' (from Greek 'polos'), meaning 'of or relating to a pole.' The compound 'anti-' + 'polar' was formed in modern scientific English (19th–20th century usage) to describe opposite polarity or opposing poles, eventually yielding the adjective 'antipolar'.
Originally the elements meant 'against/opposite' (anti-) and 'of a pole' (polar); over time the compound came to mean specifically 'having opposite polarity' or 'relating to opposite poles', often in technical contexts.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
having or relating to opposite poles or opposite polarity; of opposite electrical, magnetic, or conceptual polarity.
The device contains antipolar terminals to prevent current flow in the reverse direction.
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Adjective 2
(Materials science/crystallography) Describing a structure in which adjacent dipoles or atomic displacements are oriented in opposite directions (antipolar order or distortion).
On cooling, the perovskite exhibited an antipolar distortion that altered its dielectric properties.
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Last updated: 2025/09/07 10:44