English Dictionary - With Multi-Lingual Search

English

Etymology
From NL. electricus|�lectricus "of amber", from AGr. polytonic|ἤλεκ��ον (�lektron) "amber", related to polytonic|ἠλέκ��� (�lektor) "shining sun"

Pronunciation
rfc-level|Pronunciation at L4+ not in L3 POS section
IPA|/�i�.lek�trɪs.ɪ.ti/, SAMPA|/%i:.lek"trIs.I.ti/
audio|en-us-electricity.ogg|Audio (US)

Noun
electricity

1. A form of energy, caused by the behavior of electrons and protons, properly called "electrical energy".

#* 2000, James Meek, Home-made answer to generating electricity harks back to the past, The Guardian
#*: Householders could one day be producing as much electricity as all the country's nuclear power stations combined, thanks to the revolutionary application of a device developed in the early 19th century.

1. A fundamental property of matter, appearing in negative and positive kinds.

#* 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 1st edition, p. 51 (First known English usage)
#*: Again, The concretion of Ice will not endure a dry attrition without liquation; for if it be rubbed long with a cloth, it melteth. But quartz|Crystal will calefie unto electricity; that is, a power to attract strawes and light bodies, and rotate|convert versorium|the needle freely placed.

1. The flow of charge carriers within a conductor, properly called "electric current".
2. The charge carriers within a conductor, properly called "electric charge".

#* 1873, James Clerk Maxwell, s:A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism/Part I/Chapter II|A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
#*: We may express all these results in a concise and consistent manner by describing an electrified body as charged with a certain quantity of electricity, which we may denote by e.

1. A class of physical phenomena, related to flows and interactions of electric charge
2. A field of physical science and technology, concerned with the phenomena of electric charge

Synonyms

Translations
trans-top| form of energy
Bosnian: t-|bs|struja|f
Breton: tredan m
Bulgarian: елек��и�е��во n
Chinese: ��� (diàn), ����� (diànnéng)
Czech: elekt�ina f
Danish: elektricitet c, el
Dutch: t+|nl|elektriciteit
Faroese: t-|fo|ravmagn|n|xs=Faroese
Finnish: t+|fi|sähkö
French: électricité f
German: t+|de|Elektrizität|f
Hebrew: �ש�� (khashmal)
Hindi: बि�ल� (bijlī) f
Icelandic: rafmagn n
Ido: elektro
Indonesian: Listrik
Italian: t-|it|elettricità|f
trans-mid
Japanese: �� (���, denki)
Kurdish: t|ku|kareba f, t|ku|elektrîk f, t|ku|ceyran f, KUchar|کار��با
Latin: electricitas|�lectricit�s f
Latvian: elektrība f
Polish: elektryczno�� f
Portuguese: t+|pt|eletricidade
Russian: �лек��и�е��во n
Serbian:

Slovak: elektrina f
Spanish: t+|es|electricidad|f
Swedish: el c, elektricitet c
Telugu: విద�య�త�త� (vidyuttu)
Welsh: trydan
Urdu: URchar|بج�� (bijlī) f, URchar|بر� (barq) f
trans-bottom

See also
Electric, Electron

References
Equivalent text in ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'', 6th edition (1672), p. 53
Niels H. de V. Heathcote (December 1967). "The early meaning of ''electricity'': Some ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' - I". Annals of Science 23 (4): pp. 261-275.

Category:Electromagnetism
Category:Energy
Category:New Latin derivations

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• 2007-12-29 12:06 - VolkovBot - robot Adding: [[ja:electricity]], [[simple:electricity]]

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