polarity

Noun
Synonyms: mutual oppositionsign

WordNet 3.0

Noun (2)

  1. a relation between two opposite attributes or tendencies“he viewed it as a balanced polarity between good and evil”Synonyms: mutual opposition
  2. having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges)“he got the polarity of the battery reversed”“charges of opposite sign”Synonyms: sign
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Polarity \Po*lar"i*ty\, n. [Cf. F. polarit['e].]

1.(Physics) That quality or condition of a body in virtue of which it exhibits opposite, or contrasted, properties or powers, in opposite, or contrasted, parts or directions; or a condition giving rise to a contrast of properties corresponding to a contrast of positions, as, for example, attraction and repulsion in the opposite parts of a magnet, the dissimilar phenomena corresponding to the different sides of a polarized ray of light, etc. [1913 Webster]

2.(Geom.) A property of the conic sections by virtue of which a given point determines a corresponding right line and a given right line determines a corresponding point. See Polar, n. [1913 Webster]

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