physics
/ˈfɪz.ɪks/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.39 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The branch of science concerned with the study of the properties and interactions of space, time, matter and energy.
Uncountable
noun
The physical aspects of a phenomenon or a system, especially those examined or studied scientifically.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Newtonian physics was extended by Einstein to explain the effects of travelling near the speed of light; quantum physics extends it to account for the behaviour of atoms."
- "An analysis of media reports can correspondingly cast some light not only on how much physics is being reported, but on what branches of physics attract most popular attention."
- "The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier."
- "Daniel Hajas is a physics undergraduate at Sussex and has been blind since he was 16. He first heard about Giles and the SSDs when Giles was looking for blind students to test the devices."
- "The physics of car crashes would not let Tom Cruise walk away like that."
Etymology
1580s; from physic (see also -ics), from Middle English phisik, from Old French fisike (“natural science, art of healing”), from Latin physica (“study of nature”), from Ancient Greek φυσική (phusikḗ), feminine singular of φυσικός (phusikós, “natural; physical”), from Ancient Greek φύσις (phúsis, “origin; nature, property”), from Ancient Greek φύω (phúō, “produce; bear; grow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear, become, rise up”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *bʰuH-, phisik, fisike, physica, φυσική, φύσις
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Physics.