intensity

intensity [in-ten-si-tee] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin noun, plural in·ten·si·ties.

1. the quality or condition of being intense.
2. great energy, strength, concentration, vehemence, etc., as of activity, thought, or feeling: He went at the job with great intensity.
3. a high or extreme degree, as of cold or heat.
4. the degree or extent to which something is intense.
5. a high degree of emotional excitement; depth of feeling: The poem lacked intensity and left me unmoved.
6. the strength or sharpness of a color due especially to its degree of freedom from admixture with its complementary color.
7. Physics. magnitude, as of energy or a force per unit of area, volume, time, etc.
8. Speech.
   1. the correlate of physical energy and the degree of loudness of a speech sound.
   2. the relative carrying power of vocal utterance.

Origin of intensity First recorded in 1655–65; intense + -ity Related formso·ver·in·ten·si·ty, nounsu·per·in·ten·si·ty, nounSynonyms for intensity 5. passion, emotion, energy, vigor. Related Words for intensities vigor, emotion, strength, severity, power, tension, fury, energy, excitement, earnestness, depth, magnitude, fervor, anxiety, concentration, ferocity, force, keenness, sharpness, strain Examples from the Web for intensities Historical Examples of intensities

A delicate instrument, invented by Coulomb, for measuring the intensities of the electrical and magnetic forces.

Cooley’s Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades…, Sixth Edition, Volume I

Arnold Cooley

And had he ever had his desire or his hope, or felt the intensities of life?

The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman

H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

She dared not think of the growing list of Third Intensities.

The Amazing Mrs. Mimms

David C. Knight

This shows the method which is adopted, of deducing luminosities from intensities.

Colour Measurement and Mixture

W. de W. Abney

We do not as yet know how the intensities of e, e and h will relatively appear.

Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1

Various

British Dictionary definitions for intensities intensity noun plural -ties

1. the state or quality of being intense
2. extreme force, degree, or amount
3. physics
   1. a measure of field strength or of the energy transmitted by radiationSee radiant intensity, luminous intensity
   2. (of sound in a specified direction) the average rate of flow of sound energy, usually in watts, for one period through unit area at right angles to the specified directionSymbol: I
4. Also called: earthquake intensity geology a measure of the size of an earthquake based on observation of the effects of the shock at the earth’s surface. Specified on the Mercalli scaleSee Mercalli scale, Richter scale

Word Origin and History for intensities intensity n.

formed in English 1660s from intense + -ity. Earlier was intenseness (1610s). Sense of “extreme depth of feeling” first recorded 1830.