electrolyte

Etymology

It is formed from English electro- + -lyte,^[2][3][4][5] the second part from Ancient Greek λυτός (lutós, “that may be loosed; soluble”),^[6][7][8] from λύω (lúō, “to loosen, release”),^[7][5][9][8] from Proto-Indo-European *leu- (“to loosen, divide, cut apart”).^[7] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster relate it to lose.^[2][8] The word was coined by Michael Faraday,^[2] who in a letter of 24 April 1834 said that a friend, Dr Nicholl, had suggested some new names to him, among them electrolyte for a body decomposed by an electric current;^[6] Klein says that he introduced it, like electrolysis, at the suggestion of William Whewell.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A substance that is decomposed by an electric current: 1834, in Faraday's paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.^[6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

Faraday's term for a compound decomposed by electrolysis came to mean any substance that gives rise to ions when dissolved or melted, and a liquid or gel that contains ions, such as the fluid of a battery.^[6][5][7] From 1899, in medicine and biology, it also names the ionized salts that are normal parts of blood and other body fluids;^[6] the American Heritage Dictionary names sodium, potassium and chloride ions, which cells need to regulate electric charge and the flow of water across the cell membrane.^[10]

Timeline

• 1834 – a substance decomposed by an electric current, in Faraday.^[6][2][8]
• 1899 – in medicine and biology, an ionized salt in the body's fluids.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A substance that forms ions when dissolved, usually in water, or melted, so that it conducts electricity: Salt water is an electrolyte.^{[10][8][11][6]}
2. A liquid or gel containing ions that can be decomposed by electrolysis, such as the fluid in a battery.^[5][6][11]
3. Any of the ions, such as sodium, potassium or chloride, in the blood and other body fluids that regulate the cells' electric charge and water balance.^[10][12][6]

Word family

• ampholyte
• anolyte

Related words

• electrolytic
• electrolysis
• electro-
• -lyte
• lose
• analysis
• paralysis

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster