Ferromagnetisms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A phenomenon in which certain materials exhibit strong magnetic properties due to the alignment of atomic magnetic moments
2. The characteristic of substances that display permanent magnetism resulting from the coordinated spins of electrons
3. A type of magnetism where materials become magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field and retain this magnetization after the field is removed

Etymology: The word is the plural of "ferromagnetism," so it names several distinct kinds of this property at once. The noun itself is built plainly: "ferro-" comes from Latin "ferrum," meaning iron, and "magnetism" ultimately traces to Ancient Greek "mágnēs," the name applied to a lodestone, the naturally magnetic ore. Put together, the term means the magnetism of iron-like substances. The "-ism" ending has a long pedigree. It comes from Ancient Greek "-ismós," a suffix used to form nouns of action, state or doctrine, and it passed into English through Latin and French. "Magnetism" itself is one of the older members of this family in English, and "ferromagnetism" was simply formed from it by adding the iron element at the front, a deliberately technical coinage made once physicists needed a name for this behaviour.

Synonyms: magnetism, magnetic properties

Antonyms: diamagnetism, paramagnetism