Kelvin wave

noun

A non-dispersive wave in the ocean or atmosphere that balances the Earth's Coriolis force against a topographic boundary such as a coastline, or a waveguide such as the equator.

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Meanings

nounKelvin wave (plural Kelvin waves)

plural Kelvin waves

  1. climatologyA non-dispersive wave in the ocean or atmosphere that balances the Earth's Coriolis force against a topographic boundary such as a coastline, or a waveguide such as the equator.

    Geophysicists have leaned on a mathematical explanation for equatorial Kelvin waves since the 1960s, but for some, that explanation wasn’t entirely satisfying.

    2023 July 18, Katie McCormick, “How Quantum Physics Describes Earth’s Weather Patterns”, in Quanta Magazine
  2. A long-scale perturbation mode of a vortex in superfluid dynamics.

Origin

Named after Lord Kelvin, the discoverer (1879).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Kelvin wave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kelvin%20wave

MLA

“Kelvin wave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kelvin%20wave. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Kelvin wave,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kelvin%20wave.

Source: Kelvin wave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.