In physics, the strength of a magnetic field needed to reduce magnetization to zero; generally, the quality of being coercive.
From coercive + -ity. In physics, it's a technical term measuring how strongly a material resists changes in magnetization, derived from the metaphorical sense of 'coercive' as something that resists or constrains.
Coercivity is a brilliant example of metaphorical extension in scientific language—physicists borrowed 'coercive' (something that forces against resistance) to describe magnetic resistance. When you erase a hard drive by exposing it to a magnetic field, you're exploiting coercivity!
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