Standard Lemma guide

enthalpy

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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  • /ˈɛn.θəl.piː/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A measure of the heat content of a chemical or physical system.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, physical, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics, thermodynamics

Examples

  • H=U+pV, where H is enthalpy, U is internal energy, p is pressure, and V is volume.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

(thermodynamics) a thermodynamic quantity equal to the internal energy of a system plus the product of its volume and pressure

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • enthalpy is the amount of energy in a system capable of doing mechanical work

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: heat content, total heat, H

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: physical property

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἐν- (en-, “in”) + θάλπω (thálpō, “to warm”). Coined by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, but first used in print by J. P. Dalton in 1909 in a paper titled "Researches on the Joule-Kelvin-effect, especially at low temperatures".

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: entalpia — a measure of the heat content
  • Catalan: entalpia — a measure of the heat content
  • Chinese Mandarin: 焓 (hán) — a measure of the heat content
  • Danish: entalpi — a measure of the heat content
  • Esperanto: entalpio — a measure of the heat content
  • Finnish: entalpia — a measure of the heat content
  • Finnish: lämpösisältö — a measure of the heat content
  • French: enthalpie — a measure of the heat content
  • German: Enthalpie — a measure of the heat content
  • Greek: ενθαλπία (enthalpía) — a measure of the heat content
  • Hindi: एंथैल्पी (enthailpī) — a measure of the heat content
  • Hindi: पूर्ण ऊष्मा (pūrṇ ūṣmā) — a measure of the heat content
  • Hungarian: entalpia — a measure of the heat content
  • Indonesian: entalpi — a measure of the heat content
  • Japanese: エンタルピー (entarupī) — a measure of the heat content
  • Kazakh: энтальпия (éntalpiä) — a measure of the heat content
  • Khmer: អង់តាល់ពី (ʼɑngtalpii) — a measure of the heat content
  • Māori: hāwera — a measure of the heat content
  • Norwegian: entalpi — a measure of the heat content
  • Persian: آنتالپی (ântâlpi) — a measure of the heat content
  • Polish: entalpia — a measure of the heat content
  • Polish: zawartość cieplna — a measure of the heat content
  • Portuguese: entalpia — a measure of the heat content
  • Russian: энтальпи́я (entalʹpíja) — a measure of the heat content
  • Spanish: entalpía — a measure of the heat content
  • Swedish: entalpi — a measure of the heat content
  • Tagalog: sanginit — a measure of the heat content
  • Thai: เอนทาลปี (een-tao-bpii) — a measure of the heat content
  • Thai: เอนทัลปี (een-tao-bpii) — a measure of the heat content
  • Turkish: entalpi — a measure of the heat content
  • Turkish: ısı kapsamı — a measure of the heat content
  • Vietnamese: entanpi — a measure of the heat content