electro-, electr-, electri-

(Greek > Latin: electric, electricity; from amber, resembling amber, generated from amber which when rubbed vigorously [as by friction], produced the effect of static electricity)

Electronics in our lives consists of numerous tools

Equipment which we use everyday relies on electronics to function including calculators, car controls, cameras, washing machines, medical scanners, mobile telephones, radar systems, computers; as well as many other applications or devices which are listed in this unit.

bioelectrorheology (s) (noun)
An electric phenomena associated with material flow and deformation in living systems or the flow of materials derived directly from the nerve and muscle tissues.
bipolar electrocardiogram (s) (noun), bipolar electrocardiograms (pl)
An electronic instrument which obtains information by recording the differences in the voltages of two electrodes at different sites or parts of the surfaces of a body.
bipolar electrocautery (s) (noun), bipolar electrocauteries (pl)
An surgical dissection in which both active and return electrodes are incorporated into a single hand-held instrument, so that the current passes between the tips of the two electrodes and affects only a small amount of tissue.
bipolar needle electron (s) (noun), bipolar needle electrons (pl)
An electrode consisting of two insulated wires inside a single cylinder with neither one acting as the reference electrode.

Variations in voltage can be noted between the areas that the wires touch.

bipolar stimulating electrode (s) (noun), bipolar stimulating electrodes (pl)
An electrode which has the two terminals attached together and near each other.
calomel electrode (s) (noun), calomel electrodes (pl)
1. An electrode that develops a standard electric potential.

The calomel electrode is used as a standard in determining the pH (potential of hydrogen) of fluids which refers to a measure of acidity or alkalinity in which the pH of pure water is 7, with lower numbers indicating acidity and higher numbers indicating alkalinity.

2. An electrode consisting of mercury surrounded by a suspension of calomel (a colorless, white or brown tasteless compound, used as a fungicide or insecticide; formerly, as a purgative for purging the bowels; especially, as a laxative in a solution of potassium chloride of a specified strength.

The calomel electrode gives a highly reproducible potential, and is used as a standard, often as a half cell with a glass electrode for determining pH, or with a platinum electrode for establishing redox (oxidation-reduction) potentials or any chemical reactions in which electrons are transferred.

captive electrolyte battery (s) (noun), captive electrolyte batteries (pl)
A battery that has an immobilized electrolyte which is gelled or absorbed in a material.
carbon dioxide electrode (s) (noun), carbon dioxide electrodes (pl)
1. A blood-gas electrode that is used to measure the carbon dioxide level of arterial blood.
2. A glass electrode in a film of bicarbonate solution covered by a thin plastic membrane permeable to carbon dioxide but impermeable to water and electrolytes which is normally used to analyze arterial blood samples.
catelectrotonus (s) (noun) (no plural)
1. A local depolarization and increased irritability of a nerve of the body in the region of the negative electrode, or cathode, when the passage of a current of electricity goes through it.
2. The changes in excitability and conductivity in a nerve or muscle of the body in the neighborhood of the cathode during the passage of a constant electric current.
cathodoluminescence (s) (noun) (normally used only in the singular form)
An emission of brightness, resulting from the bombardment of a substance with an electron beam: The procedure of cathodoluminescence is employed in the development of televisions, computers, radars, and oscilloscope displays, etc. and involves the emission of light as a result of an interaction with free electrons.
central terminal electrode (s) (noun), central terminal electrodes (pl)
In electrocardiography, an electrode in which connections from three limbs; for example, right arm, left arm, and left leg, are joined and led to the electrocardiograph to form the indifferent electrode, theoretically at zero potential for the system.
coated wire electrode, CWE (s) (noun), coated wire electrodes (pl)
A chemical sensor in some clinical laboratory analyzers that functions similarly to a pH electrode.
coaxial needle electrode, concentric needle electrode (s) (noun); coaxial needle electrodes, concentric needle electrodes (pl)
A recording electrode consisting of an insulated metal wire inside a hollow stainless steel cannula.

Differences in potential are measured using the needle shaft as a reference and the wire tip as the exploring electrode.

colomel electrode (s) (noun), colomel electrodes (pl)
An electrode that is capable of both collecting and giving up chloride ions in neutral or acidic aqueous media, consisting of mercury in contact with mercurous chloride, used as a reference electrode in pH measurements.
convulsive shock therapy, electroconvulsive shock therapy, ECT, electroshock therapy (s) (noun); convulsive shock therapies, electroconvulsive shock therapies, ECTs, electroshock therapies (pl)
A treatment in which convulsions are induced by passing a low-voltage alternating electric current through the brain.

The use of such a technique is used in psychology, or psychiatry, to treat severe psychiatric disorders.

The references or sources of information for compiling the words and definitions in this unit are listed at this Electronic Bibliography page or specific sources are indicated when they are appropriate.


A cross reference of word units that are related, directly and/or indirectly, with "electricity": galvano-; hodo-; ion-; piezo-; -tron; volt; biomechatronics, info; mechatronics, info.