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Webster 1913 Edition

Magnet

Mag′net

(măg′nĕt)
,
Noun.
[OE.
magnete
, OF.
magnete
, L.
magnes
,
-etis
, Gr.
Μαγνῆτισ λίθοσ
a magnet, metal that looked like silver, prop., Magnesian stone, fr. Gr.
Μαγνησία
, a country in Thessaly. Cf.
Magnesia
,
Manganese
.]
1.
The loadstone; a species of iron ore (the ferrosoferric or magnetic ore,
Fe3O4
) which has the property of attracting iron and some of its ores, and, when freely suspended, of pointing to the poles; – called also
natural magnet
.
Dinocrates began to make the arched roof of the temple of Arsinoë all of
magnet
, or this loadstone.
Holland.
Two
magnets
, heaven and earth, allure to bliss,
The larger loadstone that, the nearer this.
Dryden.
2.
(Physics)
A bar or mass of steel or iron to which the peculiar properties of the loadstone have been imparted; – called, in distinction from the loadstone, an
artificial magnet
.
☞ An artificial magnet, produced by the action of an electrical current, is called an
electro-magnet
.
Field magnet
(Physics & Elec.)
,
a magnet used for producing and maintaining a magnetic field; – used especially of the stationary or exciting magnet of a dynamo or electromotor in distinction from that of the moving portion or armature.

Webster 1828 Edition

Magnet

MAG'NET

,
Noun.
[L. from Gr. Magnesia, in Asia Minor.] The lodestone; an ore of iron which has the peculiar properties of attracting metallic iron, of pointing to the poles, and of dipping or inclining downwards. These properties it communicates to iron by contact. A bar of iron to which these properties are imparted, is called an artificial magnet.

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