Meanings
proper noun
- An electrical phenomenon that produces an ionic wind that transfers its momentum to surrounding neutral particles, observed on an asymmetric capacitor when high voltage is applied to the electrodes.
Origin
Named by inventor Thomas Townsend Brown after himself and astronomy professor Paul Alfred Biefeld, his former teacher and possibly co-experimenter.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Biefeld-Brown effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Biefeld-Brown%20effect
MLA
“Biefeld-Brown effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Biefeld-Brown%20effect. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Biefeld-Brown effect,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Biefeld-Brown%20effect.
Source: Biefeld-Brown effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.