Any configuration of charges or currents has a 'dipole moment', which describes the dipole whose field is the best approximation, at large distances, to that of the given configuration. This is simply one term in the multipole expansion when the total charge ("monopole moment") is 0—as it always is for the magnetic case, since there are no magnetic monopoles. The dipole term is the dominant one at large distances: Its field falls off in proportion to ⁠ 1 / r ⁠, as compared to ⁠ 1 / r ⁠ for the next (quadrupole) term and higher powers of ⁠ 1 / r ⁠ for higher terms, or ⁠ 1 / r ⁠ for the monopole term.