electric
/ɪˈlɛktɹɪk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.72 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of, relating to, produced by, operated with, or utilising electricity; electrical.
adj
Of or relating to an electronic version of a musical instrument that has an acoustic equivalent.
adj
noun
An electric powered version of something that was originally or is more commonly not electric.
Countable; Informal
noun
An electric powered version of something that was originally or is more commonly not electric.
Informal
noun
An electric powered version of something that was originally or is more commonly not electric.
Informal
Example Sentences
- "An electric oven needs an electric socket."
- "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."
- "[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."
- "While Britain continues to argue about how to deliver affordable electrification and decarbonisation, Swiss railways have been 100% electric since the 1960s."
- "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.""
- "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."
Etymology
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). 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.
Origin
- Source language: Ancient Greek
- First known use: First attested in c. 1646
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪˈlɛktɹɪk/
- British English: /ɪˈlɛktɹɪk/