Etymologically
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energy

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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
  • 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