The term condenser has the following meanings:
- In electronics, it is another (more old-fashioned) word for capacitor.
- In electrical engineering, a synchronous condenser is a rotating machine similar to a motor, used to control reactive power flow on an electric power transmission system.
- In systems involving heat transfer, a condenser is a heat exchanger which converts a substance from its gaseous to its liquid state. In so doing, the latent heat is given up by the substance, and will transfer to the condenser coolant. For example a refrigerator uses a condenser to get rid of the heat extracted from the interior of the unit to the outside air. Condensers are widely used in many types of system.
- In optics, a condenser is a large plano-convex lens, commonly used in pairs in the illumination system present in projectors, microscopes, and photographic enlargers
- A condenser microphone uses a capacitive diaphragm element to convert sound to electrical signals.
- In chemistry, a condenser is the apparatus in which some type of condensation occurs.
