dielectric definitions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a material such as glass or porcelain with negligible electrical or thermal conductivity [syn: insulator, dielectric, nonconductor] [ant: conductor]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: dia- + electric Date: 1837 a nonconductor of direct electric current • dielectric adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. Electr. --adj. insulating. --n. an insulating medium or substance. Phrases and idioms: dielectric constant permittivity. Derivatives: dielectrically adv. Etymology: DI-(3) + ELECTRIC = through which electricity is transmitted (without conduction)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dielectric Di`e*lec"tric, n. [Pref. dia- + electric.] (Elec.) Any substance or medium that transmits the electric force by a process different from conduction, as in the phenomena of induction; a nonconductor. separating a body electrified by induction, from the electrifying body.

Moby Thesaurus

conductance, conduction, conductivity, conductor, electric conduction, gas conduction, insulator, ionic conduction, liquid conduction, metallic conduction, mho, nonconducting, nonconductive, nonconductor, photoconduction, semiconductor, superconductivity, superconductor