Meanings
plural impedances
- countableuncountableThe act of impeding; that which impedes; a hindrance.
Faithful yielding is therefore a display of love before God by preparing to respond to his Call to Arms, even though He may not send us into the front lines of battle if some disability or impedance of Satan prevents us from action […]
2012, R. Crafton Gibbs, Spirit Growth: Logos 2, Vol. 2, of Writing God's Book of Life, page 31 - countableuncountablenatural sciencesA measure of the opposition to the flow of an alternating current in a circuit; the aggregation of its resistance, and inductive and capacitive reactances; the ratio of voltage to current treated as complex quantities.
- A quantity analogous to electrical impedance in some other energy domain
- countableuncountableusuallynatural sciencesa measure of opposition to motion of something subjected to a force; the ratio of force to velocity treated as complex quantities.
- countableuncountableusuallynatural sciencesthe ratio of sound pressure to volume flow rate treated as complex quantities.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna material's opposition to the flow of electric current; measured in ohms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From impede + -ance. In sense 2 and sense 3 it was coined by English mathematician and physicist Oliver Heaviside in 1886.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque inpedantzia
- inpedantziaphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Bulgarian импеданс
- импеданс (impedans)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Chinese Mandarin 阻抗
- 阻抗 (zǔkàng)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Czech impedance
- impedancephysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Dutch impedantie
- impedantiephysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Esperanto impedanco
- impedancophysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Estonian impedants
- impedantsphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Finnish impedanssi
- impedanssiphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
French impédance
- impédancephysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
German Impedanz
- Impedanzphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Greek εμπέδηση, σύνθετη αντίσταση
- εμπέδηση (empédisi)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
- σύνθετη αντίσταση (sýntheti antístasi)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Hebrew עַכָּבָה, אִימְפֵּדַנְס
- עַכָּבָה (akavá)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
- אִימְפֵּדַנְס (impedáns)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Hindi प्रतिबाधा
- प्रतिबाधा (pratibādhā)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Hungarian impedancia
- impedanciaphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Indonesian impedans, impedansi
- impedansphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
- impedansiphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Irish coisceas
- coisceasphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Italian impedenza
- impedenzaphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Japanese インピーダンス
- インピーダンス (inpīdansu)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Korean 온저항
- 온저항 (onjeohang)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Māori haukotinga, whakararu
- haukotingaphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
- whakararuphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Persian امپدانس
- امپدانس (ampedâns)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Polish impedancja
- impedancjaphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Portuguese impedância
- impedânciaphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Romanian impedanță
- impedanțăphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Russian импеда́нс
- импеда́нс (impedáns)physics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Spanish impedancia
- impedanciaphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Turkish empedans
- empedansphysics, measure of opposition to flow of current
Cite this entry
impedance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impedance
“impedance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impedance. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “impedance,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impedance.
Source: impedance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.