electrum

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēlectrum (“amber; an alloy of gold and silver”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber; an alloy of gold and silver”),^[2][4][7][8] from ἠλέκτωρ (ēléktōr, “bright, beaming”), which is of unknown origin.^[2][8] Etymonline says that the alloy was probably named for its pale yellow colour,^[3] and it gives an Old English form elehtre.^[3] Bosworth–Toller's main entry takes that form as the plant lupine, and its Supplement lists it among the forms that gloss the Latin word.^[9] Stratmann's Middle English dictionary has a separate form electre, from Old French, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[10] The Greek noun is also the source of electric and electron.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Amber, and a natural alloy of gold and silver: the OED has both senses from Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus (before 1398).^[2] Etymonline and the Oxford Dictionary of English agree on the late 14th century,^[3][7] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged has the 14th century for the sense "amber".^[5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline quotes the Century Dictionary on its "various meanings at various times" among Greek and Latin authors: in Greek it was usually amber, but also pure gold, and the Romans used it for amber and for the alloy.^[3] English also began with both senses.^[2] "Amber" faded: the Shorter Oxford ends it in the late 18th century, and the OED calls it historical and rare.^[11][2] In 1591 Lodge used the word figuratively of tears.^[2] From 1829 it was also applied to an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel, which the OED compares with German silver.^[2] Accounts of the natural alloy vary: Collins gives 55–88 per cent gold,^[12] the Shorter Oxford 20 per cent or more of silver,^[11] and Etymonline up to 40 per cent silver.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1398 – amber, and a natural alloy of gold and silver, in Trevisa.^[2]
• 1591 – figuratively, of tears, in Lodge (obsolete).^[2]
• 1829 – an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel.^[2] The Shorter Oxford has this sense only from the late 19th century.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A natural, pale yellow alloy of gold and silver, or a similar artificial alloy, used for jewellery and ornaments.^[12][5][2]
2. An alloy of copper, zinc and nickel; German silver.^[2][11]
3. (archaic) Amber.^[5][2][11]

Related words

• electric
• electron

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
10. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins