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Glite Dictionary
polarimetric

polarimetric

9.3
Relating to measuring how light or other waves vibrate in one direction
  • adjective
  • /ˌpoʊlərɪˈmɛtrɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : polarimétrico
  • Using polarimetric methods, the team was able to distinguish between different types of materials.

Examples

  • The polarimetric data collected from the satellite helped scientists understand atmospheric conditions.

  • They used lidar, IR, and polarimetric video cameras; some of them were stereographic.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The researchers employed polarimetric techniques to analyze the light reflected from the surface.

How Technical

polarimetric
  • Specialized
9.3
polar
  • Specialized
10 6.4

Surface Forms

polarimetric positive

Morphology

polarimetric = polarimetry (semi-transparent) = polar + imetry + ic

The link to 'polarimetry' and the adjective-forming suffix '-ic' is clear in technical contexts, but the combining form '-imetry' is a specialized scientific morpheme not obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Polarimetric combines polar ('pole' or 'direction') and metric ('measure'). So polarimetric describes methods that measure the polarization, or the way light and other waves point or vibrate.