current

Etymology

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

1. The generally unidirectional movement of a gas or fluid.
   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. 2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition
2. The part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction, especially (oceanography) short for ocean current.
3. (electricity) the amount of electric charge flowing in each unit of time.
   Symbol: I (inclined upper case letter "I")
   Units:
   SI: ampere (A)
   CGS: esu/second (esu/s)
4. a tendency or a course of events

adj

1. Existing or occurring at the moment.
   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. 2013-07-19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18
2. Generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment.
   current affairs
   current bills and coins
   current fashions
   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. 2013-06-22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68
3. (South Asia) Electric; of or relating to electricity.
   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. 13 June 2021, Ravali Hymavathi, “Telangana: Even The TSSPDCL Is Facing Heavy Losses Due To Covid-19”, in The Hans India
4. (obsolete) Running or moving rapidly.