Phrase guide

Coriolis force

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A fictitious force that acts on objects in motion within a frame of reference that rotates with respect to an inertial frame.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: climatology, meteorology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

(physics) a force due to the earth's rotation; acts on a body in motion (airplane or projectile) in a rotating reference frame; in a rotating frame of reference Newton's second law of motion can be made to apply if in addition to the real forces acting on a body a Coriolis force and a centrifugal force are introduced

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: force

History

Etymology

From Coriolis + force, after French scientist Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 地轉偏向力 /地转偏向力 — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 科里奧利力 (kēlǐ'àolìlì) — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Czech: Coriolisova síla — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Estonian: Coriolisi jõud — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Finnish: coriolisvoima — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • French: force de Coriolis — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • German: Corioliskraft — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Japanese: コリオリ力 (koriori-ka) — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Russian: си́ла Кориоли́са (síla Koriolísa) — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Swedish: corioliskraft — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Vietnamese: hiệu ứng Coriolis — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth
  • Vietnamese: lực Coriolis — apparent force due to the rotation of the earth