polarity

Etymology

It is formed from English polar + -ity.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Polar is from French polaire or directly from Medieval Latin polāris (“of or pertaining to the poles”), from polus (“an end of an axis”), the source of pole².^[3] For the electrical sense the OED compares polarité, used in this sense in 1806, and for the biological sense it notes that the word may follow Cuvier's French use of 1808.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The tendency of a magnet or lodestone to point its ends toward the earth's magnetic poles: 1646, in Sir Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica.^[2][3][4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "tendency to the pole", quoting Browne.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From magnetism the word spread to other sciences: in 1674 it was used of the tendency of particles to orient themselves in one direction,^[2] which Etymonline describes as the variation of physical properties in opposite directions.^[3] Optics used it in the early 19th century for kinds of polarized light, senses now obsolete.^[2] From 1808 it meant the state of being electrically positive or negative, or of a current's direction.^[2] In biology it has meant, since 1848, the possession of poles or of an axis of development.^[2] The general sense, the having of two opposite tendencies or opinions, appears in Coleridge in 1818.^[2] From 1858, in Emerson, a polarity could also be one of two opposed aspects.^[2] A figurative sense of inclination toward a single point, used by Chesterfield in 1767, died out in the 19th century.^[2]

Timeline

• 1646 – the tendency of a magnet to point to the poles.^[2][3]
• 1674 – in physics and chemistry, the orientation of particles in one direction.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1670s.^[3]
• 1767 – figurative, inclination toward a single point (obsolete after 1878).^[2]
• 1808 – the state of being electrically positive or negative.^[2]
• 1818 – the having of two opposite or contrasting tendencies, in Coleridge.^[2]
• 1848 – in biology, the possession of poles or an axis.^[2]
• 1858 – one of two opposed aspects or tendencies, in Emerson.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The condition of having poles, or of having opposite physical properties at opposite points, especially magnetic poles or electric charge.^[7][4][2]
2. The particular state, positive or negative, of an electrode or other part of a system: Check the polarity of the battery before connecting it.^[7][2]
3. The state of having two directly opposite tendencies or opinions; also, one of such opposites: the polarity of the two parties.^[7][4][2]
4. (biology) The possession of an axis with different ends, along which an organism or cell develops.^[2][4]
5. (archaic) A tendency or attraction toward a particular object.^[4][2]

Related words

• polar
• pole
• polarize
• bipolar

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins