Physicist Meaning
/ˈfɪzɪsɪst/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person whose occupation specializes in the science of physics, especially at a professional level.
nounA believer in the theory that the fundamental phenomena of life are to be explained upon purely chemical and physical principles (opposed to vitalist).
Sentence Examples
This theory originated with a twenty-eight-year-old physicist.
The physicist was aware of the potential danger of nuclear fusion.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ calculated the necessary force to launch the rocket into orbit.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The Nobel Prize-winning ____ spent decades studying the behavior of subatomic particles.
Word Origin & History
From physics + -ist. Coined by the English polymath William Whewell (1794–1866) in his book The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840): see the quotation.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Thus we may say, that while the Naturalist employs principally the ideas of resemblance and life, the Physicist proceeds upon the ideas of force, matter, and the properties of matter."
— 1840, William Whewell, “Aphorisms Concerning the Language of Science. Aphorism VI. When Common Words are Appropriated as Technical Terms, this Must be Done so that They are Not Ambiguous in Their Application.”, in The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded upon Their History. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […]; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: J. and J. J. Deighton, →OCLC, page lxxi:
"Physicists find themselves called in to deal with such varied problems as the reduction of noise in diesel railcars, investigation of the Hertzian stresses set up by wheel-rail contact and improvement of the insulation of fish and banana vans."
— 1961 February, R. K. Evans, “The role of research on British Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 95:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ calculated the necessary force to launch the rocket into orbit.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The Nobel Prize-winning ____ spent decades studying the behavior of subatomic particles.