What does gilbert mean?
Lowercase gilbert is a specialized unit of magnetic field strength in the centimeter-gram-second electromagnetic system. One gilbert corresponds to 10⁻⁴ tesla in vacuum, allowing measurements from older scientific literature to be expressed in familiar magnetic-field terms. The unit is named after William Gilbert, the sixteenth-century English physician and natural philosopher whose experiments helped establish terrestrial magnetism as a subject of scientific inquiry. Capitalized, Gilbert is much more familiar as a masculine given name and surname, used across English-speaking and other European countries. The two uses are distinguished chiefly by capitalization: the name normally appears with an initial capital letter, while the unit appears in lowercase when written in full. In contemporary technical writing, the gilbert is largely a historical unit, and the SI unit tesla is preferred, but the term remains useful when reading or interpreting older electromagnetic measurements.
nounThe lowercase noun gilbert is the centimeter-gram-second electromagnetic unit of magnetic field strength, equal to 10⁻⁴ tesla in vacuum. Capitalized, Gilbert is a masculine given name and surname, including that of the English natural philosopher William Gilbert.
- Capitalized, Gilbert is a masculine given name of English and wider European origin, as in Sir William Gilbert.
- Capitalized, Gilbert is also a family name, as in the English footballer David Gilbert.
- Lowercase, a gilbert is the centimeter-gram-second electromagnetic unit of magnetic field strength, equal to 10⁻⁴ tesla in vacuum.
"The magnetic field is approximately 0.5 gilberts at the surface of the Earth."
"The field strength was recorded as 0.5 gilberts."
"Gilbert and his colleague published the discovery in the early 1980s."
The plural applies to the scientific unit. The given name and surname are normally used without pluralization.
"Several gilberts separated the magnets."
William Gilbert helped establish the science of magnetism, and his name survives in a magnetic unit that modern physics rarely uses.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does gilbert come from?
The personal name Gilbert comes through Old French Guillebert from Old German Willibert, usually analyzed as wil, meaning “will,” and beraht, meaning “bright.” It is related to other Germanic names formed with the same elements, including Wilbert, while the broader naming tradition also produced cognates and related forms such as Guillebert and Gilberto. The scientific unit was named in honor of William Gilbert and is written in lowercase to distinguish it from the personal name.
Related word forms
How gilbert is actually used
The scientific unit is lowercase in running text and has the symbol Gb. The given name and surname are capitalized. Although the unit remains defined in historical electromagnetic terminology, tesla is normally used in modern scientific contexts.
Easily confused with gilbert
A gilbert is a unit of magnetic field strength, whereas a giblet is an edible portion of an animal's viscera.