2. The regions of a magnet from which the magnetic forces appear to originate. A magnetized bar has a pole at each end; if it is freely suspended in the earth’s magnetic field (see geomagnetism) it will rotate so that one end points approximately towards the earth’s geographical north pole. This end is called the north-seeking end or the north pole of the magnet. The other end is accordingly called the south-seeking end or south pole. In the obsolete theory associated with the c.g.s. electromagnetic system of units, a unit magnetic pole was treated as one of a pair, which repelled each other with a force of 1 dyne when separated by 1 cm in space.