Etymograph

English

electric

Electric comes from New Latin ēlectricus ‘of amber’, from Latin ēlectrum ‘amber’, from Greek ἤλεκτρον ‘amber’, of unknown origin.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἤλεκτρον1ḗlektron‘amber’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlectrum1‘amber’
  3. New Latinc. 1500–1900ēlectricus1‘electrical’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1831electric1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English electric
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “A glance from Beatrice—for nothing is so electric as…”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἤλεκτρονWiktionary, English electricḗlektron‘amber’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlectrumWiktionary, English electric‘amber’
  3. New Latinc. 1500–1900ēlectricusWiktionary, English electric‘electrical’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1831electricWiktionary, English electric. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “A glance from Beatrice—for nothing is so electric as…”

first attested First attested in c. 1646 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in c. 1646 in a publication by Thomas Browne. From New Latin ēlectricus (‘electrical; of amber’), from ēlectr(um) (‘amber’) + -icus (‘adjectival suffix’); from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber”); related to ἠλέκτωρ (ēléktōr, “shining sun”), of unknown origin (see which for more).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. The Latin term was apparently used first with the sense electrical in 1600 by the English physician and scientist William Gilbert in his work De Magnete.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον

Today it means

adj Of, relating to, produced by, operated with, or utilising electricity; electrical.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “electric”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον / electric

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