Etymologically
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electric

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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
  • 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