American Heritage Dictionary Entry: flux HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com flux (flŭks) Share: Tweet n. 1. a. A flow or flowing of a liquid. b. The flowing in of the tide. c. A continuing movement, especially in large numbers of things: a flux of sensation. 2. Constant or frequent change; fluctuation: "The constant flux of people and groups ensures that human gene pools will always be mixed" (Steve Olson). 3. Medicine The discharge of large quantities of fluid material from the body, especially the discharge of watery feces from the intestines. 4. Physics a. The rate of flow of fluid, particles, or energy through a given surface. b. See flux density. c. The lines of force of an electric or magnetic field. 5. Chemistry & Metallurgy A substance that aids, induces, or otherwise actively participates in fusing or flowing, as: a. A substance applied to a surface to be joined by welding, soldering, or brazing to facilitate the flowing of solder and prevent formation of oxides. b. A mineral added to the metals in a furnace to promote fusing or to prevent the formation of oxides. c. An additive that improves the flow of plastics during fabrication. d. A readily fusible glass or enamel used as a base in ceramic work. v. fluxed, flux·ing, flux·es v.tr. 1. To melt; fuse. 2. To apply a flux to. v.intr. 1. To become fluid. 2. To flow; stream. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin flūxus, from past participle of fluere, to flow; see bhleu- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 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