volt

See also: Volt

Languages (21)

English

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Catalan • Czech • Dutch • Faroese • French • Galician • Hungarian • Icelandic • Italian • Latin • Old French • Old Occitan • Polish • Portuguese • Romanian • Serbo-Croatian • Slovak • Swedish • Tagalog • Tatar

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Page categories

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /vəʊlt/, /vɒlt/

  • Audio (Southern England); /vɒlt/:

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /voʊlt/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈvəʉlt/, /ˈvɐʉlt/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈvɐʉlt/
• Rhymes: -əʊlt, -ɒlt
• Homophone: vault (in some accents)

Etymology 1

Named after Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. For the surname, see Italian Volta.

Noun

volt (plural volts)

2. In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electrical potential and electromotive force (voltage); the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere uses one watt of power. Symbol: V
   • 1900, Journal of the Franklin Institute, volume 149, page 461:

     If the volt, ampere and ohm were taken as the absolute units, the practical units would be the ampere, begohm and begavolt, names just as convenient as ampere, coulomb and farad.

   • 1956 October, “Recent Changes on the Tyneside Electrified Lines”, in Railway Magazine, page 659:

     The system voltage is 630 volts d.c. and the supply to the trains is by top-contact third rail with running rail return.

   • 2017 December 12, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.3.5 Electrical Generation and Distribution System”, in Marine Accident Report: Sinking of US Cargo Vessel SS El Faro, Atlantic Ocean, Northeast of Acklins and Crooked Island, Bahamas, October 1, 2015‎^[1], archived from the original on 15 May 2022, pages 36–37:

     Each turbogenerator consisted of a steam turbine, powered by 900 psi of superheated steam, that was coupled by a set of reduction gears to a General Electric marine alternating-current generator operating at 1,800 rpm. Each generator had a capacity of 2,000 kilowatts of three-phase power at 450 volts and 60 hertz. The main 450-volt switchboard was energized by the two turbogenerators. The emergency switchboard, in the emergency generator room, was fed from the main switchboard through an electrical tie.

3. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) A bright yellow-green colour often used in Nike products.
   volt:  

Derived terms

• abvolt
• electron volt
• gigaelectron volt
• giga-volt
• gigavolt
• kilovolt
  • megaelectron volt
• kilovoltmeter
• megavolt
• mega-volt
• micro-volt
• microvolt
• millivolt
• nano-volt
• nanovolt
• overvolt
• pico-volt
• picovolt
• teraelectron volt
• teravolt
• tera-volt
• undervolt
• voltage
• voltammeter
• volt-ampere
• voltampere
• voltmeter
• voltmetre

Translations

unit of measure

• Albanian: volt (sq) m
• Arabic: فولْت m (volt), ڤولْت m (volt) (rare spelling), ڥولْت m (volt) (rare, regional spelling)
• Armenian: վոլտ (hy) (volt)
• Asturian: voltiu
• Azerbaijani: volt
• Basque: volt
• Belarusian: вольт m (volʹt)
• Bengali: ভোল্ট (bn) (bhōlṭo)
• Bulgarian: волт (bg) m (volt)
• Burmese: ဗို့ (bui.)
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: ^{(please verify)} bó͘-lú-to͘h

  Mandarin: 伏特 (zh) (fútè), 伏 (zh) (fú)

• Czech: volt (cs) m
• Danish: volt c
• Dutch: volt (nl) m
• Esperanto: volto (eo)
• Estonian: volt (et)
• Faroese: volt n
• Finnish: voltti (fi)
• French: volt (fr) m
• Galician: volt (gl) m, voltio m
• Georgian: ვოლტი (volṭi)
• German: Volt (de) n
• Greek: βολτ (el) n (volt)
• Hebrew: ווֹלְט (he) m (volt)
• Hindi: वोल्ट m (volṭ)
• Hungarian: volt (hu)
• Icelandic: volt (is)
• Indonesian: volt (id)
• Interlingua: volt
• Irish: volta
• Italian: volt (it) m
• Japanese: ボルト (ja) (boruto)
• Kazakh: вольт (volʹt)
• Khmer: វ៉ុល (km) (vol)
• Korean: 볼트 (bolteu)
• Kyrgyz: вольт (ky) (volt)
• Lao: ໂວລ (wōn)
• Latvian: volts m
• Lithuanian: voltas m
• Macedonian: волт m (volt)
• Malay: volt
• Māori: wae ngaohiko
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: вольт (mn) (volʹt)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: volt (no) m

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: وُلْت (volt)

• Polish: wolt (pl) m
• Portuguese: volt (pt) m
• Romanian: volt (ro) m
• Russian: вольт (ru) m (volʹt)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: во̏лт m

  Latin: vȍlt (sh) m

• Slovak: volt (sk) m
• Slovene: volt (sl) m
• Spanish: voltio (es) m
• Swedish: volt (sv) c
• Tagalog: bolta, boltiyo
• Tajik: волт (volt)
• Tamil: வோல்ட்டு (vōlṭṭu)
• Tatar: вольт (wolʹt)
• Telugu: వోల్టు (vōlṭu)
• Thai: โวลต์ (th) (wóon)
• Tibetan: ཝོལ (wol)
• Turkish: volt (tr)
• Turkmen: wolt
• Ukrainian: вольт m (volʹt)
• Urdu: وولْٹ m (volṭ)
• Uyghur: ۋولت (wolt)
• Uzbek: volt (uz)
• Vietnamese: vôn (vi)

Etymology 2

From French volte.

Noun

volt (plural volts)

1. (archaic, equestrianism) A circular movement in which the horse goes round in a small circle.
2. (archaic, fencing) A sudden movement to avoid a thrust; a parry.

Alternative forms

• vault
• volte

Related terms

• demivolt

Verb

volt (third-person singular simple present volts, present participle volting, simple past and past participle volted)

1. (archaic, equestrianism) To perform this movement.
2. (archaic, fencing) To perform this movement.

References

• “volt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• LVOT, VTOL

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈbo̞l]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈvɔlt]
• IPA^(key): (Central, Northwestern) [ˈbɔl]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Homophones: bol, vol

Etymology 1

From the past participle of Old Catalan voldre, from Latin volvere. Corresponds to Vulgar Latin *voltus, from *volŭtus, from Latin volūtus.

Noun

volt m (plural volts)

1. turn, round

   fer un volt ― to go for a stroll

Related terms

• volta
• voltar

Etymology 2

Named for Alessandro Volta.

Noun

volt m (plural volts)

1. volt

Further reading

• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “volt”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)
• “volt”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “volt”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Italian Voltader.

English voltbor.

Czech volt

Borrowed from English volt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvolt]
• Rhymes: -olt

Noun

volt m inan

1. volt

Declension

Declension of volt (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	volt	volty
genitive	voltu	voltů
dative	voltu	voltům
accusative	volt	volty
vocative	volte	volty
locative	voltu	voltech
instrumental	voltem	volty

Related terms

• See voluta

Further reading

• “volt”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “volt”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

From English volt.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

volt m (plural volts, diminutive voltje n)

1. volt (unit)

Derived terms

• elektronvolt

Faroese

Etymology

Named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. For the surname, see Volta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔl̥t/
• Rhymes: -ɔl̥t

Noun

volt n (genitive singular volts, plural volt)

1. volt, the SI unit of electric potential.

Declension

n3	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	volt	voltið	volt	voltini
accusative	volt	voltið	volt	voltini
dative	volti	voltinum	voltum	voltunum
genitive	volts	voltsins	volta	voltanna

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English volt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔlt/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

volt m (plural volts)

1. volt

Further reading

• “volt”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from English volt.

Noun

volt m (plural volts)

1. volt

   Synonym: voltio

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvolt]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: volt
• Rhymes: -olt

Etymology 1

From the same Proto-Finno-Ugric *wole- or *woli- as Finnish and Estonian olla. Compare similarities with Old Hungarian vola, later vala (same meaning).

Verb

volt

1. third-person singular indicative past indefinite of van

   Milyen volt az előadás? ― How was the show?

Participle

volt

1. past participle of van

Adjective

volt (not comparable)

2. ex-, former, late, past, sometime

   az egyetem volt tanára ― the former professor of the university

Particle

volt

1. (archaic) Used after a past-tense verb form to express past perfect.
   • 1880 (translation), 411 BC (original), János Arany (translator), Aristophanes (original), A nők ünnepe (Thesmophoriazusae).^[2] English translation: 2007, George Theodoridis.^[3]

     A vén gaz asszony meg, ki hozta volt, ¶ Fut vigyorogva a férjhez s kiáltja:

     Then the old woman picks it up [literally, “who had brought it”] and rushes out to the husband! She puts on a big grin on her face and tells him straight out,

Etymology 2

Named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.

Noun

volt (plural voltok)

1. volt (unit of measure, symbol: V)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	volt	voltok
accusative	voltot	voltokat
dative	voltnak	voltoknak
instrumental	volttal	voltokkal
causal-final	voltért	voltokért
translative	volttá	voltokká
terminative	voltig	voltokig
essive-formal	voltként	voltokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	voltban	voltokban
superessive	volton	voltokon
adessive	voltnál	voltoknál
illative	voltba	voltokba
sublative	voltra	voltokra
allative	volthoz	voltokhoz
elative	voltból	voltokból
delative	voltról	voltokról
ablative	volttól	voltoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	volté	voltoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	voltéi	voltokéi

Possessive forms of volt

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	voltom	voltjaim
2nd person sing.	voltod	voltjaid
3rd person sing.	voltja	voltjai
1st person plural	voltunk	voltjaink
2nd person plural	voltotok	voltjaitok
3rd person plural	voltjuk	voltjaik

Derived terms

• voltos

Compound words

• voltmérő

Further reading

• (the past form of van or an auxiliary particle expressing past perfect): volt in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (former, previous, bygone): volt in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (unit): volt in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Icelandic

Etymology

Named after Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.

Noun

volt n (genitive singular volts, nominative plural volt)

1. volt

Declension

Declension of volt (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	volt	voltið	volt	voltin
accusative	volt	voltið	volt	voltin
dative	volti	voltinu	voltum	voltunum
genitive	volts	voltsins	volta	voltanna

Further reading

• “volt” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English volt, itself named after Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, from Volta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɔlt/
• Rhymes: -ɔlt
• Hyphenation: vòlt

Noun

volt m (invariable)

1. volt

Latin

Verb

volt

1. (Old Latin) third-person singular present active indicative of volō

References

• “volt”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “volt”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Old French

Etymology

From Latin vultus.

Noun

volt oblique singular, m (oblique plural volz or voltz, nominative singular volz or voltz, nominative plural volt)

1. face

Synonyms

• face, visage

References

• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “volt”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

• vout

Etymology

From Latin vultus.

Noun

volt m

1. figure
2. face
3. holy image

References

• Levy, Emil. 1923. Petit dictionnaire provençal-français. Heidelberg: Winter. Page 386.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɔlt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlt
• Syllabification: volt

Etymology 1

Named after Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.

Noun

volt m inan (abbreviation V)

1. alternative spelling of wolt

Declension

Declension of volt

	singular	plural
nominative	volt	volty
genitive	volta	voltów
dative	voltowi	voltom
accusative	volt	volty
instrumental	voltem	voltami
locative	volcie	voltach
vocative	volcie	volty

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

volt f

1. genitive plural of volta

Further reading

• “volt”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• vóltio (rare)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English volt.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈvow.t͡ʃi/ [ˈvoʊ̯.t͡ʃi], /ˈvowt͡ʃ/ [ˈvoʊ̯t͡ʃ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔlt/ [ˈvɔɫt]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔlt/ [ˈvɔɫt]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔlt/ [ˈbɔɫt]

Noun

volt m (plural volts)

1. volt (unit of measure)

Further reading

• “volt”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “volt”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

English voltbor.

French voltbor.

Romanian volt

Borrowed from French volt.

Noun

volt m (plural volți)

1. volt

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	volt	voltul	volți	volții
genitive-dative	volt	voltului	volți	volților
vocative	voltule		volților

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from English volt.

Noun

volt m inan (Cyrillic spelling волт)

1. volt

Declension

Declension of volt

	singular	plural
nominative	volt	volti
genitive	volta	volta
dative	voltu	voltima
accusative	volt	volte
vocative	volte	volti
locative	voltu	voltima
instrumental	voltom	voltima

Slovak

Etymology

Named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. For the surname, see Volta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔlt/, [ˈʋɔlt]
• Rhymes: -ɔlt

Noun

volt m inan (relational adjective voltový)

1. (physics) volt

Declension

Declension of volt
(pattern dub)

	singular	plural
nominative	volt	volty
genitive	voltu, volta	voltov
dative	voltu	voltom
accusative	volt	volty
locative	volte	voltoch
instrumental	voltom	voltmi, voltami

Derived terms

• voltáž

Further reading

• “volt”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Swedish

Etymology

From French volte, from Italian volta (“a turn, rotation”).

Noun

volt c

1. a somersault; a jump where one turns one or more times forwards (or backwards)

   att göra/slå en volt

   to do a somersault

2. (by extension) The action where something of large size turns over. See slå en volt.

   Bilen körde av vägen och slog en volt.

   The car went off the road and turned over a whole turn.

Declension

Declension of volt

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	volt	volts
	definite	volten	voltens
plural	indefinite	volter	volters
	definite	volterna	volternas

Related terms

• volta

See also

• kullerbytta (“somersault on the ground”)
• saltomortal

Noun

volt c

1. volt (unit)

Declension

Declension of volt

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	volt	volts
	definite	volten	voltens
plural	indefinite	volt	volts
	definite	volten	voltens

References

• “volt”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “volt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “volt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• tolv

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• bolt

Etymology

Etymology tree

Italian Voltader.

English voltbor.

Tagalog volt

Borrowed from English volt, from Italian Volta.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈvolt/ [ˈvolt̪]
  • IPA^(key): (with nativization) /ˈbolt/ [ˈbolt̪]
• Rhymes: -olt
• Syllabification: volt

Noun

volt (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ᜔ᜆ᜔)

1. volt (unit of measure)

   Synonyms: boltiyo, bolta

Derived terms

• boltsukod
• dagisik-bolt
• kabolthan
• tigbolt
• wagbolt

Related terms

• boltahe
• boltametro
• boltayko
• boltimetro
• boltiyo
• boltmiter

Further reading

• “volt”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “volt”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Dalub-unlaran ng Wika, Takaran ng Pamantasang Gregorio Araneta (1979), Gonsalo del Rosario, editor, Maugnaying Talasalitaang Pang-agham : Ingles-Pilipino [Correlative Word List for Sciences : English-Filipino], 2nd edition (overall work in English and Tagalog), Manila: National Book Store, Inc., →LCCN, →OL, page 124

Tatar

Etymology

From English volt.

Noun

volt

1. volt, the SI unit of electric potential.

   80 meñ volt ― 80 thousand volts

Declension

Declension of volt

nominative	volt
genitive	voltnıñ
dative	voltqa
accusative	voltnı
locative	voltta
ablative	volttan