polarity

[ poh-ler-uh-tee, puh- ]

noun

1. Physics.
   1. the property or characteristic that produces unequal physical effects at different points in a body or system, as a magnet or storage battery.
   2. the positive or negative state in which a body reacts to a magnetic, electric, or other field.
2. the presence or manifestation of two opposite or contrasting principles or tendencies.
3. Linguistics.
   1. (of words, phrases, or sentences) positive or negative character.
   2. polar opposition.

polarity

/ pəʊˈlærɪtɪ /

noun

1. the condition of having poles
2. the condition of a body or system in which it has opposing physical properties at different points, esp magnetic poles or electric charge
3. the particular state of a part of a body or system that has polarity

   an electrode with positive polarity

4. the state of having or expressing two directly opposite tendencies, opinions, etc

polarity

/ pō-lăr′ĭ-tē /

1. The condition of having poles or being aligned with or directed toward poles, especially magnetic or electric poles.

Other Words From

• non·po·lar·i·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of polarity¹

First recorded in 1640–50; polar + -ity

Example Sentences

It has instruments that analyze the speed and polarity of incoming solar particles.

From Singularity Hub 

Each wire has a color-coded jack inside the outer layer for polarity identification.

From Popular-Science

I think there are a lot of interesting polarities in the experience of Haitians and Cubans in how they come to the United States.

From Vox

In this pattern, bands of rocks with normal polarity — the north-south orientation corresponding to that of Earth’s current magnetic field — alternated with bands of reversed polarity.

From Science News

The maps revealed a curious zebra-stripe pattern of magnetic polarity on the seafloor, something never seen in continental rocks.

From Science News

Without the tension between good and evil—and without protagonists to embody that moral polarity—a lesser show would go slack.

From The Daily Beast

Our patients were traumatized people with a wide range of disorders like bi-polarity and depression.

From The Daily Beast

In 2000, Hirdt reasoned, Al Gore won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College, reversing the polarity of the rule.

From The Daily Beast

The polarity of opinion only gets more pronounced when the focus shifts to the meaning of the ending.

From The Daily Beast

In regard to polarity, I do not think it makes any real difference which pole is used in each place.

From Project Gutenberg

The body that does not attract iron, or possess polarity, is not magnetic.

From Project Gutenberg

When the electric shock is very strong, it will give polarity to magnetic needles, and sometimes it reverses their poles.

From Project Gutenberg

It is, perhaps, impossible to ascertain the epoch when the polarity of the magnet was first known in Europe.

From Project Gutenberg

Somehow, the shock of impact had reversed the polarity of the leads to the pads, and they had become repulsion pads.

From Project Gutenberg