Etymologically
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electrum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [eːˈɫɛk.trũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eˈlɛk.trum][1]

Forms

ēlectrum n (genitive ēlectrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber; pale gold”).[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Virgil (70–19 BC).[4] Virgil has a river running to the plain “purer than amber”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant amber, for which the native word was sucinum, as in Virgil's Eclogues, Ovid and Pliny.[2][5] In the plural it meant drops or beads of amber, which Roman ladies carried to cool their hands.[5][6]

It also meant an alloy of gold and silver, as in Virgil's Aeneid.[2] Pliny says it is gold with a fifth part of silver.[2][7] Isidore says it is named because it shines in the sun more brightly than gold and silver, the sun being called Elector by the poets.[8] In New Latin it was used for the electron.[1] William Gilbert coined electricus, “like amber”, in 1600, the source of English electric.[9]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of amber and of the alloy.[2][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder gives the proportions of the alloy.[2][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains the name.[8][4]
  • late 14th century – English electrum is recorded.[9]
  • 1600 – William Gilbert coins electricus from it.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Amber, (plural) amber beads.[2][5]
  2. Electrum, an alloy of gold and silver.[2][1]
  3. (New Latin) The electron.[1]

Word family

  • electrifer
  • ēlectrinus
  • electrus
  • ēlectricus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com