Meanings
kelvin1
plural kelvins
- In the International System of Units, the base unit of thermodynamic temperature; ¹⁄_(273.16) of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
Ice melts above 273.15 kelvins.
1 more example
Water boils above 373.15 kelvins.
Synonyms: degree Kelvin, degree absolute
- One degree of difference on this scale, as a unit interval.
The dew point here today is only 1 kelvin above what it was yesterday.
1 more example
The interval between the freezing and boiling points of water is 100 kelvins.
Synonyms: degree Kelvin, degree absolute
- A measurement of color warmth defined by the temperature kelvin at which an incandescent blackbody would emit a given color.
Kelvin2
- A river which flows through East Dunbartonshire council area and Glasgow council area, Scotland, to the River Clyde.
- A locality in the Griffith council area, central New South Wales, Australia.
- A surname from Scottish Gaelic.
- A male given name transferred from the surname, of rather rare usage.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounIn the International System of Units, the base unit of thermodynamic temperature; ¹⁄_(273.16) of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
nounOne degree of difference on this scale, as a unit interval.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe basic unit of thermodynamic temperature adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
kelvin · noun
Named after Irish-born Scottish physicist William Thomson, Lord Kelvin.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic كِلْفِن
- كِلْفِن (kilfin)SI temperature unit
Chinese Cantonese 開爾文 /开尔文
- 開爾文 /开尔文 (hoi¹ ji⁵ man⁴)SI temperature unit
Chinese Mandarin 開爾文 /开尔文, 克耳文
- 開爾文 /开尔文 (kāi'ěrwén)SI temperature unit
- 克耳文 (kè'ěrwén)SI temperature unit
Esperanto kelvino
- kelvinoSI temperature unit
Finnish kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
French kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
German Kelvin
- KelvinSI temperature unit
Greek κέλβιν
- κέλβιν (kélvin)SI temperature unit
Hebrew קלווין
- קלוויןSI temperature unit
Hindi कैल्विन
- कैल्विन (kailvin)SI temperature unit
Hungarian kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
Indonesian kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
Japanese ケルビン
- ケルビン (kerubin)SI temperature unit
Korean 켈빈
- 켈빈 (kelbin)SI temperature unit
Malay kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
Polish kelwin
- kelwinSI temperature unit
Portuguese kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
Romanian kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
Russian ке́львин
- ке́львин (kélʹvin)SI temperature unit
Spanish kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
Swedish kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
Tagalog kelbin
- kelbinSI temperature unit
Thai เคลวิน
- เคลวิน (kayn-win)SI temperature unit
Turkish kelvin
- kelvinSI temperature unit
Vietnamese kenvin
- kenvinSI temperature unit
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with kelvin
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
kelvin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kelvin
“kelvin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kelvin. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kelvin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kelvin.
Source: kelvin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.