athermancy

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noun

Inability to transmit radiant heat; impermeability to heat; the quality of being a good insulator.

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Meanings

nounathermancy (uncountable)
  1. dateduncountableInability to transmit radiant heat; impermeability to heat; the quality of being a good insulator.

    In fact the very experiments devised to show conductivity proved in a very striking manner the existence of athermancy, or opacity to radiant heat, in the case of a considerable number of gases.

    1862, John Tyndall, "Further Researches on the Absorption and Radiation of Heat by Gaseous Matter", Philosophical Transactions, in Contributions to Molecular Physics in the Domain of Radiant Heat (1893), page 106

Origin

See athermanous.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“athermancy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/athermancy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “athermancy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/athermancy.

Source: athermancy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.