From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
current
adj 1: occurring in or belonging to the present time; "current
events"; "the current topic"; "current negotiations";
"current psychoanalytic theories"; "the ship's current
position" [ant: noncurrent]
n 1: a flow of electricity through a conductor; "the current was
measured in amperes" [syn: current, electric current]
2: a steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes); "the
raft floated downstream on the current"; "he felt a stream of
air"; "the hose ejected a stream of water" [syn: current,
stream]
3: dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive
events or ideas; "two streams of development run through
American history"; "stream of consciousness"; "the flow of
thought"; "the current of history" [syn: stream, flow,
current]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Current \Cur"rent\, n. [Cf. F. courant. See Current, a. ]
[1913 Webster]
1. A flowing or passing; onward motion. Hence: A body of
fluid moving continuously in a certain direction; a
stream; esp., the swiftest part of it; as, a current of
water or of air; that which resembles a stream in motion;
as, a current of electricity.
[1913 Webster]
Two such silver currents, when they join,
Do glorify the banks that bound them in. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The surface of the ocean is furrowed by currents,
whose direction . . . the navigator should know.
--Nichol.
[1913 Webster]
2. General course; ordinary procedure; progressive and
connected movement; as, the current of time, of events, of
opinion, etc.
[1913 Webster]
Current meter, an instrument for measuring the velocity,
force, etc., of currents.
Current mill, a mill driven by a current wheel.
Current wheel, a wheel dipping into the water and driven by
the current of a stream or by the ebb and flow of the
tide.
Syn: Stream; course. See Stream.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Current \Cur"rent\ (k?r"rent), a. [OE. currant, OF. curant,
corant, p. pr. of curre, corre, F. courre, courir, to run,
from L. currere; perh. akin to E. horse. Cf. Course,
Concur, Courant, Coranto.]
1. Running or moving rapidly. [Archaic]
[1913 Webster]
Like the current fire, that renneth
Upon a cord. --Gower.
[1913 Webster]
To chase a creature that was current then
In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns.
--Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
2. Now passing, as time; as, the current month.
[1913 Webster]
3. Passing from person to person, or from hand to hand;
circulating through the community; generally received;
common; as, a current coin; a current report; current
history.
[1913 Webster]
That there was current money in Abraham's time is
past doubt. --Arbuthnot.
[1913 Webster]
Your fire-new stamp of honor is scarce current.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
His current value, which is less or more as men have
occasion for him. --Grew.
[1913 Webster]
4. Commonly estimated or acknowledged.
[1913 Webster]
5. Fitted for general acceptance or circulation; authentic;
passable.
[1913 Webster]
O Buckingham, now do I play the touch
To try if thou be current gold indeed. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Account current. See under Account.
Current money, lawful money. --Abbott.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:
current
<electronics> The quantity of charge per unit time, measured
in Amperes (Amps, A). By historical convention, the sign of
current is positive for currents flowing from positive to
negative potential, but experience indicates that electrons
are negatively charged and flow in the opposite direction.
(1995-10-05)