An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A system that generates a → magnetic field in which the field is considered to result from two opposite poles, as in the north and south poles of a magnet, much as an → electric field originates from a positive and a negative charge in an → electric dipole. A loop carrying an electric current also acts as a magnetic dipole.
Magnetic dipoles experience a torque in the presence of magnetic fields. → dipole moment; → magnetic moment.

See also: → magnetic; → dipole.