- Temperature
- The temperature is the specific degree of hotness or coldness of the body. It is usually measured with a thermometer.
* * *The sensible intensity of heat of any substance; the manifestation of the average kinetic energy of the molecules making up a substance due to heat agitation. SEE ALSO: scale. [L. temperatura, due measure, t., fr. tempero, to proportion duly]- basal body t. the t. at rest, usually obtained on arising in the morning, without any influences that might increase it; can give indirect evidence of ovulation.- critical t. the t. of a gas above which it is no longer possible by use of any pressure, however great, to convert it into a liquid.- denaturation t. of DNA that t. at which, under a given set of conditions, double-stranded DNA is changed (50%) to single-stranded DNA; under standard conditions, the base composition of the DNA can be estimated from the denaturation t., since the greater the denaturation t., the greater the guanine-plus-cytosine content ( i.e., GC content) of the DNA. SYN: melting t. of DNA.- effective t. a comfort index or scale which takes into account the t. of air, its moisture content, and movement.- equivalent t. the t. of a thermally uniform enclosure in which, under still air conditions, a “sizable” black body loses heat at the same rate as in the nonuniform environment.- fusion t. (wire method) 1. the recorded t. at which a 20-gauge metal wire will collapse under a 3-ounce load. 2. the recorded t. at which porcelain becomes glazed.- mean t. the average atmospheric t. in any locality for a designated period of time, as a month or a year.- melting t. SYN: t. midpoint.- melting t. of DNA SYN: denaturation t. of DNA.- t. midpoint (Tm, tm) the midpoint in the change in optical properties (absorbance, rotation) of a structured polymer ( e.g., DNA) with increasing t.. SYN: melting t..- optimum t. the t. at which any operation, such as the culture of any special microorganism, is best carried on.- room t. (RT, rt) the ordinary t. (65°F to slightly less than 80°F, 18.3°C–26.7°C) of the atmosphere in the laboratory; a culture kept at room t. is one kept in the laboratory, not in an incubator.- sensible t. the atmospheric t. as felt by the individual, supposed to be that recorded by the wet-bulb thermometer.
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2 a) the degree of heat that is natural to a living body <a normal oral \temperature of about 98.6°F>b) a condition of abnormally high body heat <was running a \temperature>* * *
tem·per·a·ture (temґpər-ə-chər) [L. temperatura, from temperare, to regulate] 1. the degree of sensible heat or cold; the property of a system that determines whether or not the system is in thermal equilibrium with other systems; a measure of the average kinetic energy due to thermal agitation of the particles in a system. Symbol t>. 2. the level of heat natural to a living being. 3. colloquial term for fever.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
