density English · revision 5930

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1598|origins=la densitas}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈden.sɪ.ti/, US /ˈden.sə.t̬i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|densité]] or directly [[bor|la|dēnsitās|t=thickness]] (accusative densitatem),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) from [[m|la|dēnsus|t=thick, dense]] (see [[dense]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) French densité continues Old French dempsité (13th century).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The quality of being close or compact, thickness: 1598 in MWU, about 1600 in Etymonline, 1603 in the OED.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In physics, the mass of matter per unit of volume is from the 1660s, 1665 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The quantity of electricity per unit of volume or area is from 1873,^(OED 1989) a crowded state or degree of aggregation, as of population, from 1851,^(OED 1989) and the opacity of a photographic negative from 1879.^(OED 1989) Figuratively, stupidity is from 1894.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023) In computing, the amount of data that can be stored in a given space is from 1956.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1598 – closeness, thickness.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1665 – mass per unit volume.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1851 – crowdedness.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1873 – electrical density.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1879 – in photography.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1894 – stupidity.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1956 – in computing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The degree to which something is crowded or closely packed: ''population density''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(physics)'' The [[mass]] of a substance per unit of [[volume]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The quantity of something per unit of length, area or volume.^(AHD)

+ # The darkness or opacity of a photographic image.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(informal)'' Stupidity.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[high-density]]

+ * [[low-density]]

+ * [[density function]]

+ * [[flux density]]

+ * [[high-density lipoprotein]]

+ * [[low-density lipoprotein]]

+ * [[magnetic flux density]]

+ * [[probability density function]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dense]]

+ * [[condense]]

+ * [[condensation]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}