voltaic
1 Americanadjective
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Electricity. noting or pertaining to electricity or electric currents, especially when produced by chemical action, as in a cell; galvanic.
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(initial capital letter) of or relating to Alessandro Volta.
noun
adjective
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of or relating to Burkina Faso, formerly known as Upper Volta
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denoting, belonging to, or relating to the Gur group of African languages
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of voltaic1
Origin of Voltaic2
First recorded in 1935–40; Volta ( def. 2 ) + -ic ( def. 1 )
Explanation
Voltaic describes a chemical reaction that results in electrical energy. Batteries are the most common voltaic devices. While the adjective voltaic specifically refers to the chemical process that occurs in a battery, it's often used to mean simply "relating to electricity." You might notice the word's similarity to volt, a basic unit of electricity. The two words share a root, Volta, the last name of the Italian physicist who invented the electric battery in 1800.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This approach is called agrivoltaics — a portmanteau of agriculture and voltaic cells, which transform solar power to electrical power.
From New York Times • Jun. 28, 2022
“I have just completed a curious voltaic pile which I think you would like to see,” he wrote.
From Scientific American • Oct. 29, 2017
A battery is a multiple connection of voltaic cells, as shown in Figure 21.18.
From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015
The photo voltaic panels would make my house, which is over 300 years old, carbon negative.
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2009
The prevalent views regarding acids and bases were greatly strengthened by the earlier researches of Sir Humphry Davy, in which he employed the voltaic battery as an instrument in chemical investigation.
From Heroes of Science Chemists by Muir, M. M. Pattison (Matthew Moncrieff Pattison)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
