maxwell
n. countablen. a unit used in physics to measure magnetic flux. It is named after James Clerk Maxwell, a famous scientist who studied electricity and magnetism.
n. the centimetre-gram-second (CGS) unit of magnetic flux, equivalent to one abweber. It represents the total amount of magnetic field passing through a specific surface area.
The scientist measured the magnetic flux in maxwells.
While modern researchers typically use the weber, older physics textbooks often express magnetic flux in maxwells.
The transition from the CGS system to the International System of Units necessitated the conversion of measurements from maxwells to webers to ensure global scientific consistency.
From an earlier form Mackeswell, meaning "Mack's well or spring", from Old English welle (“well”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Usually capitalised when referring to the person, but often written in lowercase when used as a unit of measurement.
Last updated May 2, 2026