I. | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷|tōnēən, -ōnyən adjective
Usage: usually capitalized
1.
[Alexander Hamilton died 1804 American statesman + English -ian ]
1. : of or relating to the statesman Hamilton or to his political and social doctrines or program characterized by advocacy of a strong central government of a unitary type, protection of industrial and commercial interests, and a general distrust of the political capacity or wisdom of the common man
the Hamiltonian creed of selective suffrage — S.H.Adams
the Hamiltonian tradition in the U.S. — Alexander Brady
the clash of Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian America — R.M.Weaver
the Hamiltonian realistic concern with … the protection of American industries — T.I.Cook & Malcolm Moos
2.
[James Hamilton died 1829 British language teacher + English -ian ]
: of or relating to the scholar Hamilton or his system of language teaching
3.
[Sir William Hamilton died 1856 Scottish philosopher + English -ian ]
: of or relating to the philosopher Hamilton or his theories — compare hamiltonism
4.
[Sir William R. Hamilton died 1865 Irish mathematician + English -ian ]
: of or relating to the mathematician Hamilton or his system of dynamics
II. noun
( -s )
Usage: usually capitalized
: a follower or exponent of Hamiltonian doctrines or theories ; especially : a follower or advocate of the social or political doctrines of Alexander Hamilton
III. noun
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Sir William R. Hamilton died 1865 Irish mathematician + English -ian
: a function that is used to describe a dynamic system (as the motion of a particle) in terms of components of momentum and coordinates of space-time and that is equal to the total energy of the system when time is not explicitly part of the function — compare kinetic potential in the Dict