electric

Pronunciation

• IPA: /iˈlek.trɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin ēlectricus (“resembling amber, produced from amber by friction”),^[2][3][4] coined by the English physicist William Gilbert in his treatise De Magnete (1600),^[2][3] from Latin ēlectrum (“amber”),^[2][3] from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber; pale gold”),^[2][3] which is of unknown origin;^[2] Barnhart connects it with ēléktōr “the beaming sun”.^[3] Barnhart thinks the English word was largely a shortening of the earlier electrical (1635).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Possessing the property, first observed in amber, of attracting light bodies when rubbed: 1646, in Sir Thomas Browne,^[2][5][3] the 1640s in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Originally the word described substances which, like amber, attract others when rubbed;^[2] the physical force was so called because it was first produced by rubbing amber.^[2][6] “Charged with or pertaining to electricity” is from the 1670s,^[2][5] and many modern uses are short for electrical.^[2] The figurative sense, thrilling, from the swiftness of electricity, is from 1793.^[2][5] Electric light is from 1767,^[2] electric blue from 1873,^[5] the electric chair American from 1889,^[3] the electric blanket from 1930,^[2][3] and the electric guitar from 1938.^[2] electrician is from 1751, in Franklin's writings.^[3]

Timeline

• 1600 – Latin electricus, Gilbert.^[2][3]
• 1635 – electrical.^[3]
• 1646 – electric, in Browne.^[5][3]
• 1670s – charged with electricity.^[2]
• 1767 – electric light.^[2]
• 1793 – figuratively, thrilling.^[2][5]
• 1889 – electric chair.^[3]
• 1938 – electric guitar.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of, producing or operated by electricity.
2. Thrilling; emotionally exciting.
3. Tense; charged with emotion: an electric atmosphere.
4. Of a musical instrument, amplified electronically: electric guitar.

Noun

1. An electrically powered machine or vehicle.
2. electrics: an electric circuit or wiring.

Word family

• electrically

Related words

• electricity
• electrical
• electron
• electronic
• electrum

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press