physics

[ fiz-iks ]

noun

, (used with a singular verb)

1. the science that deals with matter, energy, motion, and force.

physics

/ ˈfɪzɪks /

noun

1. the branch of science concerned with the properties of matter and energy and the relationships between them. It is based on mathematics and traditionally includes mechanics, optics, electricity and magnetism, acoustics, and heat. Modern physics, based on quantum theory, includes atomic, nuclear, particle, and solid-state studies. It can also embrace applied fields such as geophysics and meteorology
2. physical properties of behaviour

   the physics of the electron

3. archaic.
   natural science or natural philosophy

physics

/ fĭz′ĭks /

1. The scientific study of matter, energy, space, and time, and of the relations between them.
2. The behavior of a given physical system, especially as understood by a physical theory.

physics

1. The scientific study of matter and motion. ( See mechanics , optics , quantum mechanics , relativity , and thermodynamics .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of physics¹

First recorded in 1580–90; physic, -ics

Word History and Origins

Origin of physics¹

C16: from Latin physica, translation of Greek ta phusika natural things, from phusis nature

Example Sentences

Haines also has degrees in law and theoretical physics.

From Slate

“That was already a first unification of the transformations of mechanics, since until then physics were considered two different worlds,” Monjo explained, contrasting physicist Isaac Newton’s concepts of physics with those advanced by a similarly foundational physicist, James Clerk Maxwell.

From Salon

He noted that teleparallel gravity — the conceptual unified theory imagined by Einstein — has “various problems,” starting with local Lorentz symmetry, or the theory that in physics the laws are the same for all observers moving relative to each other.

From Salon

In contrast to Minic, Dr. Avi Loeb, a theoretical physics professor at Harvard University, praised the paper as “highly technical and offers a novel mathematical way to describe interactions among particles in a unified geometric way, including gravity and electromagnetism.”

From Salon

Working with Dr. Rutwig Campoamor-Stursberg and mathematics colleague Álvaro Rodríguez Abella, Monjo performed extensive algebraic and other mathematical calculations — much of it drawing from existing research on theoretical physics — in order to arrive at their conclusions.

From Salon

Related Words

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