# kelvin

Pronunciation: say "KEL-vin" /ˈkɛlvɪn/

## Noun

1. The base unit of thermodynamic temperature in the International System of Units, equal to very nearly 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
   - Simple: The basic unit scientists around the world use to measure how hot or cold something is.
   - _Liquid nitrogen boils at about 77 kelvins._
   - _The sensor must be cooled to below one kelvin before it can pick up the faint signal._
2. A measure of how warm or cool a color of light is, given as the temperature at which a glowing blackbody would give off that color.
   - Simple: A number that shows how warm or cool the color of a light looks.
   - _Photographers set the camera's white balance to match the kelvin of the studio lamps._
   - _Many LED bulbs print their kelvin on the box, from warm white to cool daylight._
3. A difference of one degree on the kelvin scale, used as a unit for measuring temperature intervals.
   - Simple: One degree of difference on the kelvin scale, used to say how far apart two temperatures are.
   - _The reactor's coolant warmed by only two kelvins during the test._
   - _Overnight, the sample's temperature drifted by less than a kelvin._

## Other meanings

- (proper noun) A surname from Scottish Gaelic.
- (proper noun) A river which flows through East Dunbartonshire council area and Glasgow council area, Scotland, to the River Clyde.
- (proper noun) A male given name transferred from the surname, of rather rare usage.

## Origin

Named after the Irish-born Scottish physicist William Thomson, Lord Kelvin.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/kelvin (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).