Voltammetric

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterizing an analytical technique that uses current measurements as a function of the applied voltage to determine chemical properties
2. Pertaining to the use of voltammetry, which involves the investigation of electrochemical processes by observing variations in current
3. Relating to methods that analyze substances through their electrochemical responses at different voltages

Etymology: Voltammetric is a plain technical formation: it is simply the adjective of "voltammetry," with the suffix "-ic" added to the noun. The noun itself combines "volt," the unit of electric potential named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, with "-ammetry," from "ammeter," the instrument that measures electric current. Voltammetry, then, is the technique of measuring current while varying voltage, and the adjective describes anything that uses that method. The "-ic" ending comes ultimately from Greek "-ikos," which Latin took as "-icus." It passed into English through Old French and Middle English, where it became the regular way of turning a noun into an adjective meaning "of, relating to, or like" the noun. English has used it for centuries on countless scientific terms, and this word is a modern coinage built from that older suffix.