coulomb
UK[ˈkuːlɒm]US[ˈkuːlɑːm]
n
The SI unit of electric charge, equal to the quantity of electricity conveyed in one second by a current of one ampere.
Morpheme Breakdown
coulomb
coulomb
Unsegmentable
Etymology
The term 'coulomb' is an eponym, a word derived from a person's name. It honors the pioneering work of French military engineer and physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, who formulated Coulomb's law of electrostatic force in the 1780s. The word entered the lexicon of international scientific measurement in the late 19th century when the unit of electric charge was named after him. Its adoption into the SI system solidified its status as a fundamental term in physics and engineering, representing a direct link between a scientist's legacy and a precise quantitative concept.
Analysis
Structure: coulomb (Unsegmentable)
The word is a simplex eponym, borrowed directly from the surname of the French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736–1806). It does not contain separable morphemes in the context of its modern English usage.
Examples
One coulomb is equivalent to approximately 6.242 × 10¹⁸ elementary charges.
The capacitor can store a charge of several thousand coulombs.
A current of one ampere delivers one coulomb of charge per second.