Amperage

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæm.pəɹ.əd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. The measure of electric current flow through a conductor is quantified in amperes, representing the strength of that flow in a given circuit
2. The quantification of electric flow in a circuit, typically expressed in amperes, indicates the intensity of current traveling through a conductor
3. The amount of electric current that a conductor can carry, usually measured in amperes, reflects the potency of the flow within an electrical system

Etymology: Amperage is a plain technical coinage: it combines "ampere", the unit of electric current named after the French physicist André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836), with the suffix "-age". That suffix came into English through Old French "-age" from Latin "-aticum", a noun-forming ending that marks a quantity, a process or a collective measure, as in "voltage" or "tonnage". The unit was named in honour of Ampère's work on the relationship between electricity and magnetism in the 1820s, and "ampere" entered English as a unit name in the later nineteenth century. "Amperage" followed as a practical term for the amount of current measured in amperes, so the word is a product of electrical engineering rather than an older English word with a long history.

Synonyms: current