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cur⋅rent
[kur-uh
nt, kuhr-] 
–adjective
| 1. | passing in time; belonging to the time actually passing: the current month. |
| 2. | prevalent; customary: the current practice. |
| 3. | popular; in vogue: current fashions. |
| 4. | new; present; most recent: the current issue of a publication. |
| 5. | publicly reported or known: a rumor that is current. |
| 6. | passing from one to another; circulating, as a coin. |
| 7. | Archaic. running; flowing. |
| 8. | Obsolete. genuine; authentic. |
–noun
| 9. | a flowing; flow, as of a river. |
| 10. | something that flows, as a stream. |
| 11. | a large portion of air, large body of water, etc., moving in a certain direction. |
| 12. | the speed at which such flow moves; velocity of flow. |
| 13. | Electricity. electric current. |
| 14. | a course, as of time or events; the main course; the general tendency. |
Origin:
1250–1300; < L current- (s. of currēns) running (prp. of currere); r. ME curraunt < AF < L as above; see -ent
1250–1300; < L current- (s. of currēns) running (prp. of currere); r. ME curraunt < AF < L as above; see -ent
Related forms:
cur⋅rent⋅ly, adverb
Synonyms:
2. common, widespread, popular, rife. Current, present, prevailing, prevalent refer to something generally or commonly in use. That which is current is in general circulation or a matter of common knowledge or acceptance: current usage in English. Present refers to that which is in use now; it always has the sense of time: present customs. That which is prevailing is that which has superseded others: prevailing fashion. That which is prevalent exists or is spread widely: a prevalent idea. 3. stylish, fashionable, modish. 10. See stream.
2. common, widespread, popular, rife. Current, present, prevailing, prevalent refer to something generally or commonly in use. That which is current is in general circulation or a matter of common knowledge or acceptance: current usage in English. Present refers to that which is in use now; it always has the sense of time: present customs. That which is prevailing is that which has superseded others: prevailing fashion. That which is prevalent exists or is spread widely: a prevalent idea. 3. stylish, fashionable, modish. 10. See stream.
Antonyms:
2. obsolete. 3. old-fashioned.
2. obsolete. 3. old-fashioned.
electric current
–noun Electricity.
| the time rate of flow of electric charge, in the direction that a positive moving charge would take and having magnitude equal to the quantity of charge per unit time: measured in amperes. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To current
| cur·rent (kûr'ənt, kŭr'-) adj.
[Middle English curraunt, from Old French corant, present participle of courre, to run, from Latin currere; see kers- in Indo-European roots.] cur'rent·ly adv., cur'rent·ness n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Current
Cur"rent\ (k?r"rent), a. [OE. currant, OF. curant, corant, p. pr. of curre, corre, F. courre, courir, to run, from L. currere; perh. akin to E. horse. Cf. Course, Concur, Courant, Coranto.]1. Running or moving rapidly. [Archaic] Like the current fire, that renneth Upon a cord. --Gower. To chase a creature that was current then In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns. --Tennyson. 2. Now passing, as time; as, the current month. 3. Passing from person to person, or from hand to hand; circulating through the community; generally received; common; as, a current coin; a current report; current history. That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt. --Arbuthnot. Your fire-new stamp of honor is scarce current. --Shak. His current value, which is less or more as men have occasion for him. --Grew. 4. Commonly estimated or acknowledged. 5. Fitted for general acceptance or circulation; authentic; passable. O Buckingham, now do I play the touch To try if thou be current gold indeed. --Shak. Account current. See under Account. Current money, lawful money. --Abbott.Current
Cur"rent\, n. [Cf. F. courant. See Current, a. ]1. A flowing or passing; onward motion. Hence: A body of fluid moving continuously in a certain direction; a stream; esp., the swiftest part of it; as, a current of water or of air; that which resembles a stream in motion; as, a current of electricity. Two such silver currents, when they join, Do glorify the banks that bound them in. --Shak. The surface of the ocean is furrowed by currents, whose direction . . . the navigator should know. --Nichol. 2. General course; ordinary procedure; progressive and connected movement; as, the current of time, of events, of opinion, etc. Current meter, an instrument for measuring the velocity, force, etc., of currents. Current mill, a mill driven by a current wheel. Current wheel, a wheel dipping into the water and driven by the current of a stream or by the ebb and flow of the tide. Syn: Stream; course. See Stream.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : current
Spanish:
actual,
German:
gegenwärtig,
Japanese:
現在の
current (adj.)
c.1300, from O.Fr. corant "running," prp. of corre "to run," from L. currere "to run," from PIE *kers- "to run" (cf. Gk. -khouros "running," Lith. karsiu "go quickly," O.N. horskr "swift," O.Ir., M.Welsh carr "cart, wagon," Bret. karr "chariot," Welsh carrog "torrent"). The noun is c.1380, from M.Fr. corant, from O.Fr. corant. Applied 1747 to the flow of electrical force. Currently "at the present time" is 1580.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: cur·rent
Pronunciation: 'k&r-&nt, 'k&-r&nt
Function: noun
1 : the part of a fluid body (as air or water) movingcontinuously in a certain direction
2 : a flow of electric charge; also : the rate of such flow
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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current cur·rent (kûr'ənt, kŭr'-)
n.
- A stream or flow of a liquid or gas.
Symbol I A flow of electric charge.
Symbol I, i The amount of electric charge flowing past a specified circuit point per unit time.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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current (kûr'ənt) Pronunciation Key
Our Living Language : Electric current is the phenomenon most often experienced in the form of electricity. Any time an object with a net electric charge is in motion, such as an electron in a wire or a positively charged ion jetting into the atmosphere from a solar flare, there is an electric current; the total current moving through some cross-sectional area in a given direction is simply the amount of positive charge moving through that cross-section. Current is sometimes confused with electric potential or voltage, but a voltage difference between two points (such as the two terminals of a battery) means only that current can potentially flow between them; how much does in fact flow depends on the resistance of the material between the two points. Electrical signals transmitted through a wire generally propagate at nearly the speed of light, but the current in the wire actually moves very slowly: pushing electrons into one end of the wire is rather like pushing a marble into one end of a tube filled with marbles—a marble (or electron) gets pushed out the other end almost instantly, even though the marbles (or electrons) inside move only incrementally. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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current electronics
The quantity of charge per unit time, measured in Amperes (Amps, A). By historical convention, the sign of current is positive for currents flowing from positive to negative potential, but experience indicates that electrons are negatively charged and flow in the opposite direction.
(1995-10-05)
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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