Etymologically
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electron

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:07. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪˈlɛk.tɹɒn/[1]
  • US: /ɪˈlɛk.tɹɑn/[1]

Etymology

It was coined in 1891 by the Irish physicist George Johnstone Stoney,[2][3][4] from electric and the ending -on of ion, anion and cation.[3][5][6] Barnhart and Dictionary.com see a possible influence of Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber”), the source of electric, and of the earlier English electron, amber or the alloy electrum.[5][4] Rubbed amber produces static electricity.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Stoney applied it in 1891 to the natural unit of electric charge.[6][7][3]

Semantic evolution

Stoney meant a unit quantity of charge, but after the discovery of the particle that carries it the word came to name the particle itself, the negatively charged constituent of every atom that carries current in solids.[6][3][8] A figurative use appears from 1904.[3] Its derivatives followed the growth of physics and engineering: electronics in 1910, electronic in 1902 (in the modern sense from 1930), the electron volt in 1930, used by Rutherford, and the electron microscope in 1932, a translation of German Elektronenmikroskop.[5][2]

Timeline

  • 1856 – an earlier electron, the alloy electrum.[3]
  • 1891 – coined by Stoney for the unit of electric charge.[2][3]
  • 1902 – electronic.[5]
  • 1904 – figurative use.[3]
  • 1910 – electronics.[5]
  • 1932 – electron microscope.[5][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A stable subatomic particle with a negative electric charge, found in all atoms outside the nucleus, and the main carrier of electric current in solids.

Word family

  • antielectron
  • photoelectron
  • electron affinity
  • electron cloud
  • electron microscope
  • electron volt

Usage notes

An earlier and unrelated English electron, taken straight from Greek in 1856, meant the gold–silver alloy also called electrum, and rarely amber.[3][8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c Onions, C. T., ed. (1966), The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press