magnet

English

Etymology

From Middle English magnete, via Old French magnete, Latin magnēs, magnētem (“lodestone”), from Ancient Greek μαγνῆτις (magnêtis [líthos], “Magnesian ”), either after the Lydian city Magnesia ad Sipylum (modern-day Manisa, Turkey), or after the Greek region of Μαγνησία (Magnēsía) (whence came the colonist who founded the city in Lydia). Related to manganese, magnesia and magnesium.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmæɡnət/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmæɡnɪt/
• Homophone: magnate (one pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -ɪt

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia

magnet (plural magnets)

1. A piece of material that attracts some metals by magnetism.
2. (informal, figuratively, often in combination) A person or thing that attracts what is denoted by the preceding noun.

   He always had a girl on his arm – he's a bit of a babe magnet.

   • 1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in Railway Magazine, page 157:

     Iron and coal were the magnets that drew railways to this land of lovely valleys and silent mountains—for such it was a century-and-a-half ago, before man blackened the valleys with the smoke of his forges, scarred the green hills with his shafts and waste-heaps, and drove the salmon from the quiet Rhondda and the murmuring Taff.

   • 2007 March, J. Michael Fay, “Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma”, in National Geographic, section 47:

     […] I wanted to show Nick the largest of the water holes, Rigueik, that act as magnets to life in the dry season.

   • 2022, Steve Mann, Easy Peasy Cocker Spaniel:

     Regular baths will help keep your dog clean and fresh-smelling. The frequency will depend entirely on your own preferences as well as how much of a mud-magnet your dog is!

3. (Internet) Short for magnet link.
   • 2019, David Adams, Ann-Kathrin Maier, Big Seven Study (2016): 7 open source Crypto-Messengers to be compared, page 142:

     Magnets are thus used to create a package of cryptologic information and bundling it together.

Coordinate terms

• electret (a magnet analog for electric charge)

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Cebuano: magnet
• →? Indonesian: magnet
• →? Malay: magnet
• → Tagalog: magnet
• → Welsh: magnet

Translations

See also

• Wikipedia article on magnets
• Wikipedia article on magnetism

Anagrams

• Getman

Albanian

Albanian Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^sq

Noun

magnet m (plural magnete, definite magneti, definite plural magnetet)

1. magnet

Declension

Further reading

• “magnet”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎ (in Albanian), 1980

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English magnet, from Old French magnete, Latin magnetum "lodestone" from Ancient Greek μαγνῆτις (magnêtis [líthos], “Magnesian ”), either after the Lydian city Magnesia ad Sipylum (modern-day Manisa, Turkey), or after the Greek region of Μαγνησία (Magnēsía) (whence came the colonist who founded the city in Lydia).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: mag‧net

Noun

magnet

1. magnet

Czech

Etymology

Derived from Ancient Greek μαγνῆτις (magnêtis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

magnet m inan

1. magnet

Declension

Related terms

Further reading

• magnet in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• magnet in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• magnet in Internetová jazyková příručka

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^da

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Noun

magnet c (singular definite magneten, plural indefinite magneter)

1. magnet

Declension

Further reading

• “magnet” in Den Danske Ordbog

Estonian

Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^et

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑɡ̊net/

Noun

magnet (genitive magneti, partitive magnetit)

1. magnet

Declension

Further reading

• magnet in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
• “magnet”, in Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “magnet”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN

Faroese

Noun

magnet f (genitive singular magnetar, plural magnetir)

1. magnet

Declension

Synonyms

• sigul
• magnetur

References

• "magnet" at Sprotin.fo

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^id

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch magneet, from Middle Dutch magneet, from older magnes, from Latin magnēs, from Ancient Greek μαγνήτης λίθος (magnḗtēs líthos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmak.nɛt/
• Rhymes: -nɛt
• Hyphenation: mag‧net

Noun

magnet (plural magnet-magnet, first-person possessive magnetku, second-person possessive magnetmu, third-person possessive magnetnya)

1. magnet:
   1. (electromagnetism) a piece of material that attracts some metals by magnetism.

      Synonyms: sembrani, besi sembrani, batu semberani, batu berani

Derived terms

Further reading

• “magnet” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Malay Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^ms

Noun

magnet (Jawi spelling مݢنيت, plural magnet-magnet, informal 1st possessive magnetku, 2nd possessive magnetmu, 3rd possessive magnetnya)

1. magnet

Further reading

• “magnet” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Middle English

Noun

magnet

1. Alternative form of magnete

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^no

Noun

magnet m (definite singular magneten, indefinite plural magneter, definite plural magnetene)

1. a magnet

Derived terms

Related terms

References

• “magnet” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Noun

magnet m (definite singular magneten, indefinite plural magnetar, definite plural magnetane)

1. a magnet

Derived terms

Related terms

References

• “magnet” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Romanian Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^ro

Etymology

Borrowed from German Magnet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maɡˈnet/

Noun

magnet m (plural magneți)

1. magnet

Declension

Further reading

• magnet in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “the exact, indirect route from Greek, please”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mǎɡneːt/
• Hyphenation: mag‧net

Noun

màgnēt m (Cyrillic spelling ма̀гне̄т)

1. a magnet (piece of material that attracts metal by magnetism)

Declension

References

• “magnet” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Slovak

Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^sk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

magnet m inan (genitive singular magnetu, nominative plural magnety, genitive plural magnetov)

1. magnet

Declension

Further reading

• “magnet”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Slovene

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^sl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maɡnéːt/

Noun

magnẹ̑t m inan

1. magnet

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “magnet”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Swedish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “the exact route, please”)

Noun

magnet c

1. a magnet (piece of material that attracts metal by magnetism)

Declension

Related terms

Descendants

• → Finnish: magneetti

References

• magnet in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• magnet in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• magnet in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English magnet.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: mag‧net
• IPA^(key): /ˈmaɡnet/,

Noun

magnet (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜄ᜔ᜈᜒᜆ᜔)

1. magnet

   Synonym: balani

Related terms

• magnetiko
• magnetismo

Further reading

• “magnet”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Welsh

Welsh Wikipedia has an article on:

magnet

Wikipedia ^cy

Etymology

Borrowed from English magnet.

Noun

magnet m or f (plural magnetau or magnets)

1. magnet

Mutation

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “magnet”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies