Mpemba effect

proper noun

The supposed tendency of warmer (and/or previously warmed) liquids or colloids (especially water) to freeze more quickly than cooler ones under at least some conditions.

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Meanings

proper nounthe Mpemba effect
  1. The supposed tendency of warmer (and/or previously warmed) liquids or colloids (especially water) to freeze more quickly than cooler ones under at least some conditions.

    Scientists as yet have been unable to fully explain the mechanism behind the Mpemba effect. It is a combination of a variety of heat transfer methods, and those combinations change under different conditions of water and[…]

    2012, Elizabeth H. Oakes, Heat and Thermodynamics, Infobase Learning, →ISBN, page 38

Origin

Named after Tanzanian student Erasto Mpemba, who published on the topic in the 1960s.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Mpemba effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mpemba%20effect

MLA

“Mpemba effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mpemba%20effect. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mpemba effect,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mpemba%20effect.

Source: Mpemba effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.