Standard Lemma guide

polarity

noun · 16 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /pəˈlæɹɪti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: [pəˈlɛɹɪɾi]
  • rhymes with -æɹɪti
  • CMU ARPABET: P OW0 L EH1 R AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The separation, alignment or orientation of something into two opposed poles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The debate revealed the sharp polarity of opinion.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Either of the two extremes of such attributes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The dipole-dipole intermolecular forces between the slightly positively-charged end of one molecule to the negative end of another or the same molecule. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The division of an embryo into an animal pole and a vegetal pole within a blastula. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: embryology, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Spatial differences in shape, structure, and function within a cell. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biology, microbiology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A measure of the electrical potential at the ends of a circuit. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: business, electrical-engineering, electricity, electromagnetism, energy, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

Examples

  • positive and negative polarity
  • The experiment tested the polarity of the electrical current.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The direction of a wave's amplitude or its being in phase or antiphase.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

The grammatical category of the affirmative and the negative. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A duality that is an involution, i.e. has order two. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: projective geometry

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

An indicator of the positivity or negativity of a literal. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

Any of the various ways in which power is distributed within the international system. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: government, politics

Examples

  • political polarity

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

The concept of dualism between masculine and feminine. Wp

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: gender

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

Ellipsis of magnetic polarity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

noun

Meaning 14

Ellipsis of trilinear polarity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable

Topics: geometry, mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

noun

Meaning 15

a relation between two opposite attributes or tendencies

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he viewed it as a balanced polarity between good and evil

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mutual opposition

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: opposition, oppositeness

16

noun

Meaning 16

having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he got the polarity of the battery reversed
  • charges of opposite sign

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sign

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: opposition, oppositeness

Narrower terms: positivity, positiveness, negativity, negativeness

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

46 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: полярност (poljarnost) — separation, alignment
  • Catalan: polaritat — separation, alignment
  • Finnish: vastakohtaisuus — separation, alignment
  • Finnish: napaisuus — separation, alignment
  • Finnish: polariteetti — separation, alignment
  • German: Polarität — separation, alignment
  • Italian: polarità — separation, alignment
  • Portuguese: polaridade — separation, alignment
  • Romanian: polaritate — separation, alignment
  • Russian: поля́рность (poljárnostʹ) — separation, alignment
  • Spanish: polaridad — separation, alignment
  • Swedish: polaritet — separation, alignment
  • Ukrainian: поля́рність (poljárnistʹ) — separation, alignment
  • Chinese Mandarin: 極性 /极性 (jíxìng) — one of two extremes
  • Finnish: ääripää — one of two extremes
  • Finnish: napa — one of two extremes
  • French: polarité — one of two extremes
  • German: Polarität — one of two extremes
  • Greek: πόλωση (pólosi) — one of two extremes
  • Irish: deighilt — one of two extremes
  • Irish: scoilt — one of two extremes
  • Italian: polarità — one of two extremes
  • Japanese: 極性 (kyokusei) — one of two extremes
  • Polish: biegunowość — one of two extremes
  • Portuguese: polaridade — one of two extremes
  • Russian: поля́рность (poljárnostʹ) — one of two extremes
  • Catalan: polaritat — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Chinese Mandarin: 極性 /极性 (jíxìng) — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Finnish: poolisuus — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Finnish: polaarisuus — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Finnish: polariteetti — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • French: polarité — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • German: Polarität — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Indonesian: polaritas — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Irish: polaraíocht — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Italian: polarità — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Japanese: 極性 (kyokusei) — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Latin: polāritās — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Māori: tōranga — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Māori: pitoruatanga — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Portuguese: polaridade — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Romanian: polaritate — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Russian: поля́рность (poljárnostʹ) — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Spanish: polaridad — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Tagalog: kataluktukan — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force
  • Ukrainian: поля́рність (poljárnistʹ) — chemistry: dipole-dipole intermolecular force