coefficient of friction
noun
Simple meaning
The ratio of the weight of an object being moved along a surface and the force that maintains contact between the object and the surface.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kohuhfishuhntuhvfrikshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
koʊəˈfɪʃənˈtʌvfˈɹɪkʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
physics
The ratio of the weight of an object being moved along a surface and the force that maintains contact between the object and the surface
physics
The ratio between (1) the magnitude of the force of friction which a surface produces on an object (moving along the surface or being pressed statically against it) and (2) the magnitude of the normal force which is produced by the surface on the object and which is perpendicular to that surface.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: The ratio of the weight of an object being moved along a surface and the force that maintains contact between the object and the surface
Used this way, coefficient of friction is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.