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Glite Dictionary
milliampere

milliampere

5.1
One thousandth of an ampere of electric current
  • noun
  • /ˌmɪliˈæmˌpɪr/
  • Specialized
translation icon : miliamperio
  • The 4- to 20-milliampere output of the monitor could be fed into the station's distributed control system and used to adjust engine operations to ensure that the system stays below the regulatory limits on emissions.

Examples

  • The circuit requires a steady flow of 2 milliampere for optimal performance.

  • The device uses a current of 500 milliampere to operate efficiently.

  • She measured the output at 10 milliampere before making any adjustments.

Synonyms

mA
vsmilliampere
  • Specialized
6 3.3

A small unit that measures electric current equal to one thousandth of an amp

is the full-word form used in text rather than as a symbol
milliamp
vsmilliampere
  • Specialized
2 4.0

A unit of electric current equal to one thousandth of an ampere

is the standard full-word scientific spelling rather than the informal variant

How Strong

ampere
  • Specialized
1 4.3
milliampere
  • Specialized
5.1

Surface Forms

milliampere singular
milliamperees plural

Morphology

milliampere = ampere (transparent) = milli + ampere + milli

The term is a regular formation from the SI prefix 'milli-' meaning one thousandth plus the unit 'ampere', so the meaning is directly derivable.

Etymology

Milliampere is made of the prefix milli- meaning 'one thousandth', as in millimeter or milligram, and ampere, named after the scientist Ampère and used as the 'unit of electric current'. So a milliampere is one thousandth of an ampere, which is why we use it for very small electric currents.