Celsiusn.adj.
/ˈsɛlsɪəs/, U.S. /ˈsɛlsiəs/, /ˈsɛlʃəs/ A. n.
I. Compounds.
1. Celsius thermometer n. (also †Celsius's thermometer, †thermometer of Celsius) a thermometer calibrated in accordance with the Celsius scale; (also) the Celsius scale; the Celsius temperature.Celsius described a scale in which 0 was the boiling point of water and 100 the freezing point ( Observationer om twänne beständiga Grader på en Thermometer (1742)): this is the inverse of the scale subsequently called the Celsius scale. Linnaeus used a thermometer calibrated with 0 as the freezing point and 100 as the boiling point ( Hortus Upsaliensis (1745) 16 Dec.).Prior to Celsius, a thermometric scale of 100 degrees had been proposed by P. Elvius ( Dissertatio physico-mechanica de thermometris (1710) vii. 35).
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > measurement of temperature > [noun] > specific scales
Fahrenheit thermometer1732
Fahrenheit scale1740
Fahrenheit1754
Réaumur scale1764
Celsius thermometer1781
Réaumur1785
Celsius1790
Celsius scale1790
R1806
Wedgwood1807
centigrade1812
absolute temperature scale1886
Kelvin scale1908
Rankine scale1931
Rankine temperature1938
1781 R. Pulteney Gen. View Writings Linnæus 42 The greatest degree of heat, in the summer of 1747, at Upsal, was on the second day of July, when Celsius's thermometer stood at 30 degrees above 0... In this thermometer the freezing point is 0, and boiling water 100.
1807 T. Young Course Lect. Nat. Philos. I. lii. 648 The interval between freezing and boiling. This interval is subdivided, in Fahrenheit's thermometer, into 180 degrees; in Réaumur's, into 80, and in the centigrade thermometer of Celsius and of the French, into 100.
1939 Agric. Hist. 13 37 Although acimine grows in localities where the Celsius thermometer drops to 24° below zero, I am afraid that it is a delicate tree.
1954 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 54 1124/3 Like most European nurses, she was used to the metric system and the Celsius thermometer.
1991 Jrnl. Econ. Perspectives 10 74 A Celsius thermometer is calibrated to register zero degrees when immersed in water that contains ice and 100 degrees when immersed in boiling water.
2.
a. Celsius scale n. (also †Celsius's scale) a scale of temperature in which 0° is the freezing point of water and 100° is the boiling point. Cf. centigrade adj. 1a.In scientific use the term Celsius was formally adopted in place of centigrade in 1948 (see quot. 1949 at sense B.); see the note at centigrade adj. 1a. The Celsius scale was redefined in 1954 in terms of the Kelvin scale, by the relationship °C = °K − 273.15, thereby effectively replacing the freezing point of water at 0°C as a fixed point by the triple point of water at 0.01°C. (see the note at Kelvin n. 4a).The relationship between the Celsius scale and the Fahrenheit scale is as follows: °C = (°F − 32) × 5/9.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > measurement of temperature > [noun] > specific scales
Fahrenheit thermometer1732
Fahrenheit scale1740
Fahrenheit1754
Réaumur scale1764
Celsius thermometer1781
Réaumur1785
Celsius1790
Celsius scale1790
R1806
Wedgwood1807
centigrade1812
absolute temperature scale1886
Kelvin scale1908
Rankine scale1931
Rankine temperature1938
1790 W. Nicholson First Princ. Chem. i. iii. 31 Or if the multiplier 5, and the divisor 9, be used, the quotient will give the degrees of Celsius's scale.
1863 E. Atkinson tr. A. Ganot Elem. Treat. Physics §235 On the continent..this division [into 100 parts] is called the centigrade or Celsius scale.
1899 Geogr. Jrnl. 14 544 The Congress expresses the hope that in scientific publications..the equivalents on the Celsius scale be added to the figures published according to the Fahrenheit and Réaumur systems.
1961 Times 23 Dec. 7/4 The Meteorological Office proposal to use the centigrade (Celsius) scale for temperature reports and forecasts to the public.
2007 D. I. Leap in J. W. Delleur Handbk. Groundwater Engin. (ed. 2) xiii. 2 The Fahrenheit scale is in common use in English-speaking countries, but not in England itself which now uses the Celsius scale.
b. Celsius degree n. a degree of the Celsius scale; = Kelvin n. 2. Symbol °C or C.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > measurement of temperature > [noun] > unit > specific
Fahrenheit degree1841
Celsius degree1847
Kelvin degree1941
millidegree1951
microdegree1957
Rankine degree1963
Kelvin1968
1847 J. Müller Princ. Physics & Meteorol. vii. i. 437 If, on the other hand, we want to change Celsius' degrees into the Réaumur scale, we multiply the given number of the degrees by 0.8.
1955 Internat. Organization 9 566/1 The Congress unanimously decided to adopt in principle the Celsius degree and the metric system for the evaluation of meteorological elements included in reports for international exchange.
1993 Equinox Oct. 97/4 In one notable ‘catastrophic event’ during the last interglacial, between 115,000 and 135,000 years ago, the temperature plummeted by 14 Celsius degrees and stayed there for 70 years.
2003 Sci. News 164 215/1 Earth's average temperature has risen by about two-thirds of a Celsius degree in the past century.
c. Celsius temperature n. a temperature on the Celsius scale.
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1877 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. iv. 12/2 Canada has been on Celsius temperatures for more than a year.
1946 H. Cramér Math. Methods Statistics xxxi. 469 x3 = mean Celsius temperature of the air at Kalmar during the actual vegetation period.
1968 Geogr. Rev. 58 689 The author's practice of using Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature values simultaneously is extremely annoying.
2005 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 10 7613/1 This equation was chosen because it requires only one climatic input variable (Celsius temperature T).
II. Simple uses.
3. The Celsius scale of temperature. Chiefly in degree of Celsius (cf. Celsius degree n. at sense A. 2b).
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > measurement of temperature > [noun] > specific scales
Fahrenheit thermometer1732
Fahrenheit scale1740
Fahrenheit1754
Réaumur scale1764
Celsius thermometer1781
Réaumur1785
Celsius1790
Celsius scale1790
R1806
Wedgwood1807
centigrade1812
absolute temperature scale1886
Kelvin scale1908
Rankine scale1931
Rankine temperature1938
1790 W. Nicholson First Princ. Chem. i. iii. 31 To reduce these scales to each other, it must be observed, that one degree of Fahrenheit's is equal to 4/ 9 of a degree of Reaumur, and to 5/ 9 of a degree of Celsius.
1859 U.S. Patent 24,556 1/2 It will be easy to regulate the heat in the cylinder to about 100 degrees of Celsius.
1878 Lancet 19 Jan. 101/1 In the cookery books of the future, however, we may hope to see milligrammes, cubic centimetres, and degrees of Celsius replace the less exact measurements to which cooks have become accustomed.
1915 Treat. Flour (Fleischmann Co.) (rev. ed.) i. 39 To transform Celsius into Reaumur multiply the degrees of Celsius by 4 and divide the product by 5.
1986 H. Huebert Hierschau App. 379 For comparison, each degree Reaumur equals..1.25..degrees of Celsius or Centigrade and 214 (2.25) degrees of Fahrenheit.
2008 J. N. Hatzopoulos Topographic Mapping v. 146 The measurement of temperature, for example, in degrees of Celsius is expressed as the numerical difference between the temperature of ice and the temperature of a measured body.
B. adj.
As postmodifier. Of a thermometric degree or specified number of degrees: measured on the Celsius scale.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > measurement of temperature > [adjective] > specific scales
centesimal1635
centigrade1799
Réaumur1799
Fahrenheit1807
cent.1809
Celsius1878
Kelvin1911
Rankine1933
1878 Lancet 31 Aug. 285/1 The temperature rose only once to 101.7° Fahr. (38.6° Celsius).
1912 R. Amundsen in Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 9 Mar. 2/2 The lowest temperature on these depot trips was minus 45 celsius or centigrade (49 degrees below zero, fahrenheit).
1949 Nature 19 Mar. 428/1 [At the ninth International Conference of Weights and Measures held in October 1948] it was unanimously agreed to describe temperatures in this scale as degrees ‘Celsius’ instead of Centigrade.
1977 Arab Times 27 Nov. 8/3 Miss Barker was also affected by the 40-degree celsius heat which baked the entire court.
2006 Touch Dec.–Jan. 70/2 The Mediterranean will be burning with Spain and Greece topping 50 degrees Celsius.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.1781