Polarization

How to spell polarization

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce polarization

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does polarization mean?

1. nounThe process by which a group, opinion, or society divides into two sharply opposed factions.
2. nounThe restriction of light waves or other vibrations to a single plane, or the development of distinct electrical poles in a material.

Polarization in a sentence

• The debate caused deep polarization between the two departments.

• Sunglasses reduce glare through the polarization of reflected light.

• Growing political polarization made any compromise unlikely.

• The lab measured the polarization of the laser beam.

Where does polarization come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek polos, which meant the pivot or axis on which something turns, and by extension the end-point of an axis such as the pole of the sky. Latin borrowed this idea as polus, and the medieval Latin adjective polaris described anything 'relating to a pole'. From there English formed 'polar', and scientists of the early nineteenth century coined the verb 'polarize' to describe forcing light or electrical charge to align along a particular axis. The noun 'polarization' followed naturally, adding the action-and-state suffix -ation, and it is recorded in optical physics from around the 1810s. The figurative sense of society splitting into two opposing camps, as if drawn toward opposite poles, grew popular much later in the twentieth century. The spelling trap is the cluster of unstressed vowels (po-LAR-i-ZA-tion) and the z that some writers expect to be an s.

How the word is built

• polar- (from Latin polaris: relating to a pole)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix: to make)
• -ation (noun suffix: the action or state)

British and American spelling

Polarization is the American spelling. British English spells it polarisation.