energy

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈen.ə.dʒi/, US /ˈen.ɚ.dʒi/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French énergie,^[2][3][4] partly directly borrowed from Late Latin energīa,^[2][4] from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia, “activity, action, operation”),^[3][2][5] from ἐνεργός (energós, “active, working”),^[3][5] formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) and ἔργον (érgon, “work”).^[3][2][6] Etymonline traces érgon to Proto-Indo-European *werg- (“to do”),^[3][6] the root of English work.^[2] Klein notes that the Greek noun was formed by Aristotle,^[5] who used it for actuality as opposed to potentiality,^[3] a sense that, according to Etymonline, was misunderstood in Late Latin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Force or vigour of expression in speech or writing: 1581, in Sidney's Defence of Poesie,^[2][7] or the 1590s;^[3] Barnhart dates the borrowing from French to 1599.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The exercise of power, actual working or operation, is recorded from before 1626.^[7] Power actively displayed is from 1665,^[7][2] and the latent capacity to produce an effect from 1677.^[7] Vigour or intensity of action as a personal quality is from 1809.^[7] In physics, the power of a body or system to do work is from 1807,^[7] and the word was briefly proposed as a name for momentum in 1808.^[7] Energy as usable power from sources such as coal or petroleum, and the energy crisis, are 20th-century uses.^[8] Energetic and energize are from the 17th and 18th centuries.^[9]

Timeline

• 1581 – vigour of expression (Sidney).^[7][2]
• 1599 – from French énergie.^[2]
• before 1626 – operation, activity.^[7]
• 1665 – power displayed.^[7]
• 1677 – latent ability to produce an effect.^[7]
• 1807 – in physics, the power to do work.^[7]
• 1809 – personal vigour.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The capacity for work or vigorous activity; vigour.
2. The exertion of power; intensity of expression.
3. Usable heat or power, or a source of it such as coal or petroleum.
4. (physics) The capacity of a system to do work.

Word family

• bioenergy
• energise
• energize
• high-energy

Related words

• ergonomics
• synergy
• energetic
• work
• allergy
• organ

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press