electricity
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: business
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
Etymology: Etymology tree
Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron)bor.
Latin ēlectrum
Proto-Indo-European *-ikos
Proto-Italic *-ikos
Latin -icus
New Latin ēlectricusbor.
English electric
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ts
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts
Latin -itāsder.
Old French -itebor.
Middle English -ite
English -ity
English electricity
From electric + -ity.
Inflected forms:
form: electricities
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Originally, a property of amber and certain other nonconducting substances to attract lightweight material when rubbed, or the cause of this property; now understood to be a phenomenon caused by the distribution and movement of charged subatomic particles and their interaction with the electromagnetic field.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: 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 Cryſtal will calefie unto electricity ; that is, a power to attract ſtraws or light bodies, and convert the needle freely placed.
For, reſtoring the equilibrium in the bottle does not at all affect the Electricity in the man thro’ whom the fire paſſes ; that Electricity is neither increaſed nor diminiſhed.
Attraction, then, is the first phenomenon that arrests our attention, and it is one that is constantly attendant on excitation. It is therefore considered a sure indicator of the presence of electricity in an active state, and forms the basis of all its tests.
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.
How does it work, though? It's based on the observation made some 200 years ago that electricity can change the shape of flames.
gloss: The study of electrical phenomena; the branch of science dealing with such phenomena.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: He took up the job of studying electricity in college.
gloss: A feeling of excitement; a thrill.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: Opening night for the new production had an electricity unlike other openings.
The electricity was crackling around Celtic Park even before a ball had been kicked, the home crowd unleashing noise and colour and every ounce of passion in their bodies on the visitors.
gloss: Electrical power, as supplied by power stations or generators.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: This heater draws more than a thousand watts of electricity.
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.
[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
gloss: Electrical energy, as supplied by power stations or generators.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: Last year this portion of the grid consumed more than a thousand megawatt-hours of electricity.
New facilities consume more electricity than ever. A rack of servers stuffed with AI chips requires about ten times more power than a non-AI version a few years ago. A study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that in 2023 America's data centres used 176 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity. That is forecast to increase to between 325TWh and 580TWh by 2028 (see chart 2), or 7-12% of America's total consumption, with hyperscalers accounting for about half.
gloss: The supply of electricity, as a utility.
pos: noun
tags: attributive
often
uncountable
usually
examples: Electricity bosses set to make record profits.
Related words: alternating current
circuit
current
direct current
earth
electric circuit
electric current
energy
hydro
power
vacuum
vending machines
electric
electron
Derived words: antiferroelectricity
bioelectricity
clean electricity
dielectricity
electret
electricity-generating
electricity meter
electricity pylon
electrickery
ferrielectricity
ferroelectricity
flexoelectricity
geoelectricity
grid electricity
hydricity
hydroelectricity
magnetoelectricity
magnetricity
myoelectricity
paraelectricity
photoelectricity
piezoelectricity
pyroelectricity
radioelectricity
static electricity
thermoelectricity
triboelectricity
Triscuit
volta-electricity
Translations: