electric

Word family

• electricity
  nounA2
• electrical
  adjectiveA2
• electrically
  adverbB1
• electrician
  nounB1
• electrify
  verbB2
• electrifying
  adjectiveB2
• electrification
  nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These four words are often confused with 'electric' but each has a distinct meaning. 'Electric' describes things that USE electricity as their power source — an electric kettle, an electric car, an electric drill. 'Electrical' is broader: it refers to anything related to the field or system of electricity, even if the thing itself does not use power — electrical engineering, electrical wiring, electrical equipment (which might include a mix of electric and non-electric parts). 'Electronic' is narrower: it specifically describes devices that control the flow of electrons through tiny circuits, such as computers, phones, and calculators — an electronic calculator but an electric oven. 'Battery-powered' names the energy source (batteries rather than a wall plug), while 'rechargeable' describes something whose batteries can be refilled. A toy car can be both battery-powered and rechargeable, but if it plugs directly into the wall, it is simply electric.

Common collocations

Etymology

The word 'electric' traces back to the ancient Greek word 'ēlektron' (ἤλεκτρον), meaning 'amber' — the yellow fossilised tree resin. Around 600 BCE, Greek philosophers noticed that rubbing amber with fur made it attract lightweight objects such as feathers, an early observation of static electricity. In the early 1600s, the English scientist William Gilbert created the Latin word 'electricus' (meaning 'like amber') in his book De Magnete to describe materials that behaved like amber when rubbed. By the mid-1700s, as scientists like Benjamin Franklin began to understand and harness the energy, 'electric' entered English as the word we use today.