Density

How to spell density

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce density

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does density mean?

1. nounThe degree to which something is closely packed, crowded, or, in physics, its mass per unit of volume.

Density in a sentence

• The density of the city centre makes parking almost impossible.

• Engineers measured the density of the alloy before approving the design.

Where does density come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin adjective densus, meaning 'thick', 'compact' or 'crowded together'. From this the Latin noun densitas was formed, describing the quality of being thick or closely packed. English took the word in through French densite during the 1500s, when it was used for the general idea of thickness or compactness. As the physical sciences matured in the 1600s and 1700s, the word acquired its precise meaning of mass per unit of volume, the sense most adults now meet in physics and chemistry. The same Latin root still lives in the everyday adjective 'dense' and in 'condense', which literally means to make something more closely packed together.

How the word is built

• dens- (from Latin densus: thick, crowded)
• -ity (noun suffix forming an abstract quality)