What does "hertzian" mean?
Hertzian: Of or pert. to the German physicist Heinrich Hertz. Hertzian telegraphy, telegraphy by means of the Hertzian waves; wireless telegraphy. -- H. waves, electric waves; -- so called because Hertz was the first to investigate them systematically. His apparatus consisted essentially in an oscillator for producing the waves, and a resonator for detecting them. The waves were found to have the same velocity as light, and to undergo reflection, refraction, and polarization.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00