Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The ability or power to conduct or transmit heat, electricity, or sound.
  • noun The conductance of a material.
  • noun Physiology The conductibility of a structure, especially the ability of a nerve to transmit a wave of excitation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In physiology, the power of a nerve to conduct an impulse.
  • noun The thermometric conductivity of the atmosphere; the change in temperature of the atmosphere due to its calorimetric conductivity. It is equal to the latter divided by the specific heat of a unit volume, or by the product of the specific heat of a unit mass multiplied by the density of the gas. It is therefore a large quantity in the upper regions of the atmosphere.
  • noun In physics, the power of conducting heat, electricity, or sound; the property of being conductive.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or power of conducting, or of receiving and transmitting, as heat, electricity, etc..
  • noun (Physics) the quantity of heat that passes in unit time through unit area of a plate whose thickness is unity, when its opposite faces differ in temperature by one degree.
  • noun (Physics) the thermal conductivity when the unit of heat employed is the heat required to raise a unit volume of the substance one degree.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The ability of a material to conduct electricity, heat, fluid or sound
  • noun physics The reciprocal of resistivity

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the transmission of heat or electricity or sound

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

conductive +‎ -ity

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Examples

  • Sensors for "skin conductivity," says Bulgrin, check for "almost imperceptible amount of perspiration, which you might not feel but the probes can identify."

    ESPN goes Pavlovian with its in-depth viewer research 2009

  • Does ESPN place sensors that measure "skin conductivity" and, says ESPN researcher Artie Bulgrin, also check for "almost imperceptible amount of perspiration that you might not feel but the probes can identify"?

    Pencils ready? Let's get quizzical about TV 2009

  • Lie detectors do little more than measure some variables (such as skin conductivity, or how sweaty one's fingers become) to detect the emotion of anxiety that arises when one is lying.

    Archive 2007-12-01 2007

  • Lie detectors do little more than measure some variables (such as skin conductivity, or how sweaty one's fingers become) to detect the emotion of anxiety that arises when one is lying.

    Being a Pavlov Dog in Holiday Season Shopping Spree 2007

  • It was known that some of these oxides may conduct electricity, but their conductivity is normally very limited.

    Press Release: The 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics 1987

  • Results indicate the cement’s electrical conductivity is on par with that of manganese at room temperature.

    Electrically Conductive Cement | Impact Lab 2007

  • The new EPA guidelines were designed to gauge the health of nearby streams based on their levels of conductivity, which is an indicator of water's purity.

    It's Getting Hot In Here 2010

  • "Specifically, we've shown that the hybridization of electronic wave functions of alloy constituents in HMAs makes it possible to enhance thermopower without much reduction of electric conductivity, which is not the case for conventional thermoelectric materials," he says.

    RedOrbit News - Technology 2010

  • "Specifically, we've shown that the hybridization of electronic wave functions of alloy constituents in HMAs makes it possible to enhance thermopower without much reduction of electric conductivity, which is not the case for conventional thermoelectric materials," he says.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • A major strategy for making thermoelectric materials energy efficient is to lower the thermal conductivity without affecting the electrical conductivity, which is how well electricity can travel through the substance.

    New nanomesh material created: Silicon-based film may lead to efficient thermoelectric devices 2010

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