convection

What it means

1. countableobsoleteuncountableThe process of conveying something.
2. countableuncountablenatural sciencesThe transmission of heat in a fluid by the circulation of currents.

   The mantle is important to our discussion in that its viscous nature can conduct convection currents that have effects on the crust upon which we live.

   2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition

3. countableuncountableclimatologyThe vertical movement of heat and moisture, especially by updrafts and downdrafts in an unstable air mass. The terms convection and thunderstorm are often used interchangeably, although thunderstorms are only one form of convection. Towering cumulus clouds are visible forms of convection.

In a sentence

The mantle is important to our discussion in that its viscous nature can conduct convection currents that have effects on the crust upon which we live.

2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition

Where it comes from

1. Latinconvectiōnem
2. Englishconvection

From Latin convectiōnem, from convectiō (“act of carrying”), from convect-, past participle stem of convehō (“to carry together”), combination of com- and vehō. By surface analysis, convect + -ion.