Etimology
From Middle English curraunt, borrowed from Old French curant (French courant), present participle of courre (“to run”), from Latin currere, present active infinitive of currō (“I run”) (present participle currens). Doublet of courant.
noun
current (countable and uncountable, plural currents)
The generally unidirectional movement of a gas or fluid.
The part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction, especially (oceanography) short for ocean current.
(electricity) the amount of electric charge flowing in each unit of time.
a tendency or a course of events
Examples
The mantle is important to our discussion in that its viscous nature can conduct convection currents that have effects on the crust upon which we live.
Synonyms: flow, stream
SI: ampere
CGS: esu/second
Synonym: electric current
Synonyms: flow, stream, tendency
Related words
related terms
course
currency
adjective
current (comparative currenter or more current, superlative currentest or most current)
Existing or occurring at the moment.
Generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment.
(South Asia) Electric; of or relating to electricity.
(obsolete) Running or moving rapidly.
Examples
Synonyms: present; see also Thesaurus:present
Antonyms: future, past
current events
current leaders
current negotiations
Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.
Synonyms: fashionable, prevailing, prevalent, rife, up-to-date; see also Thesaurus:fashionable
Antonyms: out-of-date, unfashionable; see also Thesaurus:unfashionable
current affairs
current bills and coins
current fashions
That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt.
The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them […] is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.
current bill
current shock
In April and May this year, the average daily current consumption dropped to 55 MU […] Compared to household electricity charges, the current unit charge used by commercial companies is higher. […] Electricity consumption is generally higher in summer as compared to monsoon and winter. The use of ACs will increase not only in homes but also in commercial establishments and current consumption will increase.
Synonym: speeding
For here we met, some ten or twelve of us, / To chase a creature that was current then / In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns.