polarity

Intrinsic polar separation, alignment, or orientation, especially of a physical property.

An indicated polar extreme.

The possession or manifestation of two opposing attributes, tendencies, or principles.

That endowment of plants, plant-organs, and even of spores and cells, by virtue of which they tend to develop axially and with a distinction of base and apex; verticibasality. This polarity inheres even in small pieces of a stem in such wise that they tend to throw out roots from the end originally nearest the base and shoots from that farthest from it. Accordingly the basal end of a piece or whole is termed (first by Vochting) the root-pole, the apical end the shoot-pole, the latter also stem-pole (Pfeffer). Polarity is either (relatively) stable, as in flowering plants, or labile (changeable). Some low organisms are apolar.

In geometry, a conlocal reciprocation in which any two corresponding elements are doubly correlated.

The having two opposite poles; variation in certain physical properties, so that in one direction they are the opposite of what they are in the opposite direction: thus, a magnet has polarity.

The being attracted to one pole and repelled from the other; attraction of opposites: literal or figurative: as, electricity has polarity.

The having of an axis with reference to which certain physical properties are determined.

The having, as a ray, variation of properties in reference to different inclinations to a plane through the ray; polarization.