electric

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See also: elèctric

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

1640s (Thomas Browne), from New Latin ēlectricus (“electrical; of amber”), from ēlectrum (“amber”) +‎ -icus (“adjectival suffix”), from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber”), related to ἠλέκτωρ (ēléktōr, “shining sun”), of unknown origin; see there for further information. 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.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɪˈlɛktɹɪk/, /əˈlɛktɹɪk/, /iˈlɛktɹɪk/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective[edit]

electric (not comparable)

  1. Of, relating to, produced by, operated with, or utilising electricity; electrical.
    • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion‎[1]:
      But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them run became ensnared in corporate scandals, fraud, and monopolistic corruption that shook the confidence of the nation and inspired automotive upstarts.
    • 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      [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.
    • 2022 December 14, Ben Jones, “Switzerland: a template for Northern Powerhouse Rail?”, in RAIL, number 972, page 28:
      While Britain continues to argue about how to deliver affordable electrification and decarbonisation, Swiss railways have been 100% electric since the 1960s.
  2. Of or relating to an electronic version of a musical instrument that has an acoustic equivalent.
  3. Being emotionally thrilling; electrifying.
    • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 278:
      A glance from Beatrice—for nothing is so electric as the kindness of sympathy—stopped the tide of bewailings that were gushing forth. "Poor child!" muttered the housekeeper; "but it's no good telling her."
    • a. 1857, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Vision of Poets”, in Poems, volume I, New York: C. S. Francis & Co., published 1857, pages 195–196:
      And bold / Electric Pindar, quick as fear, / With race-dust on his cheeks, and clear / Slant startled eyes that seemed to hear // The chariot rounding the last goal, / to hurtle past it in his soul.
    • 1867, Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass‎[2], page 98:
      I SING the Body electric; The armies of those I love engirth me, and I engirth them; They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them, And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the Soul.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun[edit]

electric (plural electrics)

  1. (informal, usually with definite article) Electricity; the electricity supply.
    We had to sit in the dark because the electric was cut off.
  2. (informal) An electric powered version of something that was originally or is more commonly not electric.
    1. (rare, countable) An electric car.
      • 2004, Dennis Barton, Red Star 4: Victory‎[3]:
        There were electric vehicles around, but four-wheel drive electrics were pretty damned rare, and the snow was deep enough to stop anything that didn't have a minimum of four big wheels spinning at all times.
    2. An electric toothbrush.
      • 2007, Working Mother, volume 31, number 1, page 71:
        The beautiful VIOlight bathroom unit takes up very little space (it's about the size of a cup), yet it holds up to 4 toothbrushes - even electrics!
    3. An electric typewriter.
      • 1983, Stephen King, Word Processor of the Gods:
        Richard's old Olivetti electric had been put aside for the time being on top of one of the filing cabinets. “It serves the purpose,” Richard said. He nodded at the word processor.
  3. (archaic) A substance or object which can be electrified; an insulator or non-conductor, like amber or glass.
  4. (fencing) Fencing with the use of a body wire, box, and related equipment to detect when a weapon has touched an opponent.
    Antonym: steam

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “electric”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Occitan[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (Béarn)(file)

Adjective[edit]

electric m (feminine singular electrica, masculine plural electrics, feminine plural electricas)

  1. electric

Related terms[edit]

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French électrique.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

electric m or n (feminine singular electrică, masculine plural electrici, feminine and neuter plural electrice)

  1. electric

Declension[edit]

Declension of electric
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite electric electrică electrici electrice
definite electricul electrica electricii electricele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite electric electrice electrici electrice
definite electricului electricei electricelor electricilor

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

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