Meanings
current1
nouncurrent (countable and uncountable, plural currents)
plural currents
- countableuncountableThe generally unidirectional movement of a gas or fluid.
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 - countableuncountableThe part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction, especially (oceanography) ellipsis of ocean current.
- abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountablebusinessEllipsis of electric current.
- South Asiabroadlycountableuncountablebusinesselectricity, power in general.
adjectivecurrent (comparative currenter or more current, superlative currentest or most current)
comparative currenter · comparative more current · superlative currentest · superlative most current
- Existing or occurring at the moment.
current events
3 more examples
current leaders
current negotiations
Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.
2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18Synonyms: present, contemporary, hodiern, modern, de nos jours, present, present-day · Antonyms: future, past
- Generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment; having currency.
current affairs
4 more examples
current bills and coins
current fashions
That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt.
1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertationsThe ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them[…]is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.[…]current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate[…]“stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.
2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68Synonyms: fashionable, prevailing, prevalent, rife, up-to-date, a la mode/à la mode, all the rage, chic · Antonyms: out-of-date, unfashionable, basic, cheugy, cringe, cringey, cringeworthy, dated
- South AsiaElectric; of or relating to electricity.
current bill
2 more examples
current shock
In April and May this year, the average daily current consumption dropped to 55 MU[…]Compared to household electricity charges, the current unit charge used by commercial companies is higher.[…]Electricity consumption is generally higher in summer as compared to monsoon and winter. The use of ACs will increase not only in homes but also in commercial establishments and current consumption will increase.
2021 June 13, Ravali Hymavathi, “Telangana: Even The TSSPDCL Is Facing Heavy Losses Due To Covid-19”, in The Hans India - obsoleteRunning or moving rapidly.
For here we met, some ten or twelve of us, / To chase a creature that was current then / In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns.
1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Vivien”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 114Synonyms: speeding
Current2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction, especially (oceanography) ellipsis of ocean current.
adjectiveExisting or occurring at the moment.
Similar
adjectiveGenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment; having currency.
Similar
adjectiveRunning or moving rapidly.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveoccurring in or belonging to the present time
Opposite
noundominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
current · noun, adjective
- Latincurrere“to run”
- Old Frenchcurant
- Middle Englishcurraunt
- Englishcurrent
From Middle English curraunt, borrowed from Old French curant (French courant), present participle of courre (“to run”), from Latin currere (“to run”) (present participle currens). Doublet of courant.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα
- ῥεῦμα (rheûma)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
Arabic تَيَّار, تَيَّار
- تَيَّار (tayyār)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- تَيَّار (tayyār)time rate of flow of electric charge
- جَارٍ (jārin)existing or occurring at the moment
Basque korronte, egungo
- korrontetime rate of flow of electric charge
- egungoexisting or occurring at the moment
Bengali প্রবাহ, আধুনিক
- প্রবাহ (probaho)time rate of flow of electric charge
- আধুনিক (adhunik)generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Bulgarian тече́ние, ход
- тече́ние (tečénie)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- ход (hod)tendency or a course of events
- ток (tok)time rate of flow of electric charge
- теку́щ (tekúšt)existing or occurring at the moment
- настоя́щ (nastojášt)existing or occurring at the moment
- сега́шен (segášen)existing or occurring at the moment
- общоприе́т (obštopriét)generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- прие́т (priét)generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Catalan riu, corrent
- riupart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- correntpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- correnttime rate of flow of electric charge
- actualexisting or occurring at the moment
- actualgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Chinese Cantonese 電流 /电流
- 電流 /电流 (din⁶ lau⁴)time rate of flow of electric charge
Chinese Mandarin 水流, 流
- 水流 (shuǐliú)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- 流 (liú)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- 電流 /电流 (diànliú)time rate of flow of electric charge
- 活期 (huóqī)existing or occurring at the moment
- 通用 (tōngyòng)existing or occurring at the moment
- 現在的 /现在的 (xiànzài de)existing or occurring at the moment
Czech proud, proud
- proudpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- proudtime rate of flow of electric charge
- současnýexisting or occurring at the moment
- aktuálnígenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Danish strøm, strømstyrke
- strømpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- strømstyrketime rate of flow of electric charge
- strømtime rate of flow of electric charge
- aktuelexisting or occurring at the moment
- nuværendeexisting or occurring at the moment
Dutch stroming, stroom
- stromingpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- stroompart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- stroomtime rate of flow of electric charge
- huidigexisting or occurring at the moment
- huidigeexisting or occurring at the moment
- actueelexisting or occurring at the moment
- aktueelgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- aktuelegenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Esperanto fluo, kurento
- fluopart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- kurentotime rate of flow of electric charge
- nunaexisting or occurring at the moment
- nuntempaexisting or occurring at the moment
- kurantaexisting or occurring at the moment
Estonian hoovus, elektrivool
- hoovuspart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- elektrivooltime rate of flow of electric charge
- vooltime rate of flow of electric charge
- praeguneexisting or occurring at the moment
Finnish virta, virtaus
- virtapart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- virtauspart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- suuntaustendency or a course of events
- virtaustendency or a course of events
- virtatime rate of flow of electric charge
- sähkövirtatime rate of flow of electric charge
- ajankohtainenexisting or occurring at the moment
- tämänhetkinenexisting or occurring at the moment
- nykyinenexisting or occurring at the moment
- juoksevagenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- käypägenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- nykyinengenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- voimassa olevagenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- vallitsevagenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
French courant, courant
- courantpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- couranttendency or a course of events
- couranttime rate of flow of electric charge
- présentexisting or occurring at the moment
- actuelexisting or occurring at the moment
- courantexisting or occurring at the moment
- actuelgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
German Strömung, Strom
- Strömungpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- Stromtime rate of flow of electric charge
- gegenwärtigexisting or occurring at the moment
- aktuellexisting or occurring at the moment
- zeitnahgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Greek ρεύμα, ρεύμα
- ρεύμα (révma)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- ρεύμα (révma)tendency or a course of events
- εντάση (entási)time rate of flow of electric charge
- ρεύμα (révma)time rate of flow of electric charge
- παρών (parón)existing or occurring at the moment
- τρέχων (tréchon)existing or occurring at the moment
- τωρινός (torinós)existing or occurring at the moment
Hawaiian au
- aupart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
Hebrew זֶרֶם, זֶרֶם
- זֶרֶם (zérem)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- זֶרֶם (zérem)time rate of flow of electric charge
- שׁוֹטֵף (shotéf)existing or occurring at the moment
Hindi प्रवाह, धारा
- प्रवाह (pravāh)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- धारा (dhārā)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- बहाव (bahāv)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- धारा (dhārā)time rate of flow of electric charge
- प्रवाह (pravāh)time rate of flow of electric charge
- वर्तमान (vartamān)existing or occurring at the moment
Hungarian áram, áramlat
- árampart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- áramlatpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- árpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- alakulástendency or a course of events
- áramtime rate of flow of electric charge
- jelenlegiexisting or occurring at the moment
- aktuálisexisting or occurring at the moment
Icelandic straumur, straumur
- straumurpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- straumurtime rate of flow of electric charge
- núverandiexisting or occurring at the moment
Indonesian arus, arus
- aruspart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- arustime rate of flow of electric charge
Irish sruth, sruth
- sruthpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- sruthtime rate of flow of electric charge
Italian corrente, corrente
- correntepart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- correntetendency or a course of events
- correntetime rate of flow of electric charge
- correnteexisting or occurring at the moment
- attualeexisting or occurring at the moment
- odiernoexisting or occurring at the moment
- attualegenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- correntegenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Japanese 流れ, 流れ
- 流れ (nagare)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- 流れ (nagare)tendency or a course of events
- 電流 (denryū)time rate of flow of electric charge
- 現行 (genkō)existing or occurring at the moment
- 現在 (genzai)existing or occurring at the moment
- 当座 (tōza)existing or occurring at the moment
Korean 흐름, 흐름
- 흐름 (heureum)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- 흐름 (heureum)tendency or a course of events
- 전류 (jeollyu)time rate of flow of electric charge
- 현행(現行)의 (hyeonhaeng-ui)existing or occurring at the moment
- 현재(現在)의 (hyeonjae-ui)existing or occurring at the moment
Latin flumen, cursus
- flumenpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- cursuspart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- aestuspart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
Latvian straume, gaita
- straumepart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- gaitatendency or a course of events
- strāvatime rate of flow of electric charge
- pašreizējsexisting or occurring at the moment
- esošsexisting or occurring at the moment
- esošsgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Lithuanian srovė, tėkmė
- srovėpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- tėkmėpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- eigatendency or a course of events
- tėkmėtendency or a course of events
- srovėtime rate of flow of electric charge
- einamasisexisting or occurring at the moment
- dabartinisexisting or occurring at the moment
Malay arus, arus
- aruspart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- arustime rate of flow of electric charge
Māori au, iahiko
- aupart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- iahikotime rate of flow of electric charge
- onāianeiexisting or occurring at the moment
Norwegian aktuell, nåværende
- aktuellgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- nåværendegenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- gjeldendegenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Norwegian Bokmål strøm, strøm
- strømpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- strømtime rate of flow of electric charge
- strømstyrketime rate of flow of electric charge
- aktuellexisting or occurring at the moment
- nåværendeexisting or occurring at the moment
- dagsaktuellexisting or occurring at the moment
Persian مسیر
- مسیرtendency or a course of events
Polish prąd, nurt
- prądpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- nurtpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- prądtime rate of flow of electric charge
- natężenie prądutime rate of flow of electric charge
- bieżącyexisting or occurring at the moment
- aktualnyexisting or occurring at the moment
- obecnyexisting or occurring at the moment
- każdoczesnyexisting or occurring at the moment
- aktualnygenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Portuguese corrente, corrente
- correntepart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- correntetime rate of flow of electric charge
- amperagemtime rate of flow of electric charge
- correnteexisting or occurring at the moment
- em cursoexisting or occurring at the moment
- atualexisting or occurring at the moment
- actualgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- atual (br)generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Romanian curent, șuvoi
- curentpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- șuvoipart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- fluxpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- curstendency or a course of events
- merstendency or a course of events
- manierătendency or a course of events
- curenttime rate of flow of electric charge
- actualexisting or occurring at the moment
- curentexisting or occurring at the moment
Russian пото́к, тече́ние
- пото́к (potók)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- тече́ние (tečénije)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- ход (xod)tendency or a course of events
- ток (tok)time rate of flow of electric charge
- ны́нешний (nýnešnij)existing or occurring at the moment
- теку́щий (tekúščij)existing or occurring at the moment
- тепе́решний (tepérešnij)existing or occurring at the moment
- совреме́нный (sovreménnyj)generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- теку́щий (tekúščij)generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Scottish Gaelic sruth
- sruthpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
Slovak tok, prúd
- tokpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- prúdpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- prúdtime rate of flow of electric charge
- súčasnýexisting or occurring at the moment
Spanish corriente, corriente
- corrientepart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- corrientetime rate of flow of electric charge
- actualexisting or occurring at the moment
- actualgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Swahili mkondo, mkondo
- mkondopart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- mkondotime rate of flow of electric charge
- kisasaexisting or occurring at the moment
- kisasagenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Swedish ström, strömning
- strömpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- strömningpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- riktningtendency or a course of events
- strömningtendency or a course of events
- tendenstendency or a course of events
- strömtime rate of flow of electric charge
- nuvarandeexisting or occurring at the moment
- aktuellgenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- gällandegenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- gångbargenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
- innevarandegenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Tagalog agos, kaampiran
- agospart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- kaampirantime rate of flow of electric charge
Thai กระแส, แนวโน้ม
- กระแส (grà-sɛ̌ɛ)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- แนวโน้ม (nɛɛo-nóom)tendency or a course of events
- กระแส (grà-sɛ̌ɛ)time rate of flow of electric charge
- กระแสไฟฟ้า (grà-sɛ̌ɛ-fai-fáa)time rate of flow of electric charge
- ปัจจุบัน (bpàt-jù-ban)existing or occurring at the moment
- เป็นที่ยอมรับ (bpen-tîi-yɔɔm-ráp)generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Turkish akıntı, akım
- akıntıpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- akımpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- cereyanpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- akımtime rate of flow of electric charge
- güncelexisting or occurring at the moment
- geçerligenerally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
Ukrainian струм, поті́к
- струм (strum)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- поті́к (potík)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- течія́ (tečijá)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- струм (strum)time rate of flow of electric charge
- тепе́рішній (tepérišnij)existing or occurring at the moment
- ни́нішній (nýnišnij)existing or occurring at the moment
- пото́чний (potóčnyj)existing or occurring at the moment
Urdu دھارا, رَو
- دھارا (dhārā)part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- رَو (rau)time rate of flow of electric charge
Vietnamese dòng, dòng điện
- dòngpart of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction — see also ocean current
- dòng điệntime rate of flow of electric charge
- hiện nayexisting or occurring at the moment
- nayexisting or occurring at the moment
Yiddish שטראָם
- שטראָם (shtrom)time rate of flow of electric charge
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with current
All rhymes →Sounds the same
currantcourant (with both the hurry–furry merger and cure–fir merger)currantcourant (with both the hurry–furry merger and cure–fir merger)
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
current. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/current
MLA
“current.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/current. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “current,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/current.
Source: current on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.