Pascals

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A unit representing pressure, equivalent to one newton per square meter, is frequently used in scientific research
2. A metric unit used to measure pressure, defined as one newton exerted per square meter of area
3. A standard unit in physics that quantifies pressure as the force applied evenly over a square meter

Etymology: The unit is named for Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth-century French mathematician, physicist and philosopher, whose work on fluids and the weight of air made him a natural namesake for a measure of pressure. Pascal's name reached the unit through French, and "pascal" was borrowed into English from the French form "pascal" in the same spirit as other scientific units named after people. "Pascals" is simply the plural of "pascal", so it means more than one pascal, the way a count of units is always written. The unit itself is equal to one newton per square metre, a rate of force spread over an area. Pascal shares a root with "paschal", the adjective relating to Easter, which came into English from the same Latin source by a different route. The two words are doublets: one reached English through French as a surname-turned-unit, the other through the church as a term for the Passover festival.

Synonyms: units of pressure