Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Magnetic \Mag*net"ic\, Magnetical \Mag*net"ic*al\, a. [L.
magneticus: cf. F. magn['e]tique.]
1. Pertaining to the magnet; possessing the properties of the
magnet, or corresponding properties; as, a magnetic bar of
iron; a magnetic needle.
2. Of or pertaining to, or characterized by, the earth's
magnetism; as, the magnetic north; the magnetic meridian.
3. Capable of becoming a magnet; susceptible to magnetism;
as, the magnetic metals.
4. Endowed with extraordinary personal power to excite the
feelings and to win the affections; attractive; inducing
attachment.
She that had all magnetic force alone. --Donne.
5. Having, susceptible to, or induced by, animal magnetism,
so called; as, a magnetic sleep. See {Magnetism}.
{Magnetic amplitude}, {attraction}, {dip}, {induction}, etc.
See under {Amplitude}, {Attraction}, etc.
{Magnetic battery}, a combination of bar or horseshoe magnets
with the like poles adjacent, so as to act together with
great power.
{Magnetic compensator}, a contrivance connected with a ship's
compass for compensating or neutralizing the effect of the
iron of the ship upon the needle.
{Magnetic curves}, curves indicating lines of magnetic force,
as in the arrangement of iron filings between the poles of
a powerful magnet.
{Magnetic elements}.
(a) (Chem. Physics) Those elements, as iron, nickel,
cobalt, chromium, manganese, etc., which are capable
or becoming magnetic.
(b) (Physics) In respect to terrestrial magnetism, the
declination, inclination, and intensity.
(c) See under {Element}.
{Magnetic equator}, the line around the equatorial parts of
the earth at which there is no dip, the dipping needle
being horizontal.
{Magnetic field}, or {Field of magnetic force}, any space
through which magnet exerts its influence.
{Magnetic fluid}, the hypothetical fluid whose existence was
formerly assumed in the explanations of the phenomena of
magnetism.
{Magnetic iron}, or {Magnetic iron ore}. (Min.) Same as
{Magnetite}.
{Magnetic needle}, a slender bar of steel, magnetized and
suspended at its center on a sharp-pointed pivot, or by a
delicate fiber, so that it may take freely the direction
of the magnetic meridian. It constitutes the essential
part of a compass, such as the mariner's and the
surveyor's.
{Magnetic poles}, the two points in the opposite polar
regions of the earth at which the direction of the dipping
needle is vertical.
{Magnetic pyrites}. See {Pyrrhotite}.
{Magnetic storm} (Terrestrial Physics), a disturbance of the
earth's magnetic force characterized by great and sudden
changes.
{Magnetic telegraph}, a telegraph acting by means of a
magnet. See {Telegraph}.
Equator \E*qua"tor\, n. [L. aequator one who equalizes: cf. F.
['e]quateur equator. See {Equate}.]
1. (Geog.) The imaginary great circle on the earth's surface,
everywhere equally distant from the two poles, and
dividing the earth's surface into two hemispheres.
2. (Astron.) The great circle of the celestial sphere,
coincident with the plane of the earth's equator; -- so
called because when the sun is in it, the days and nights
are of equal length; hence called also the {equinoctial},
and on maps, globes, etc., the {equinoctial line}.
{Equator} {of the sun or of a planet} (Astron.), the great
circle whose plane passes through through the center of
the body, and is perpendicular to its axis of revolution.
{Magnetic equator}. See {Aclinic}.
Source : WordNet®
magnetic equator
n : an imaginary line paralleling the equator where a magnetic
needle has no dip [syn: {aclinic line}]