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.

electricity and electrical engineering
These fields are critical areas for modern progress because without electricity, our world would be more heavily polluted and would communicate and operate at much slower speeds.

There would be no electrical equipment, no electronic devices, and there would certainly be no computers to transmit information such as is being done here.

Electricity History

Electricity has expanded in use far beyond its original discovery

People in many parts of the world are surrounded by gadgets, appliances, and machines run by electricity and just about every place where we live or work as well as places of entertainment, both indoors and outdoors, we can see electricity in action.

Almost every aspect of human activities seems to depend on electricity for existence.

The Latin word, electrum, means to "produce from amber by friction"; so, we get our English word electricity from Greek and Latin words that were both about amber.

Electricity came from an ancient Greek word that means "produced by amber" and that Greek word was in existence many centuries before electricity was actually developed by humans.

Why did the discoverers of electricity choose such an old word for something so new? Amber came from tree resin that hardened over centuries and when it was rubbed, amber produced static electricity and attracted light objects.

Amber is a golden brown "stone" that sparkles orange and yellow in sunlight and it is actually fossilized tree sap!

Millions of years ago insects got stuck in the tree sap and those small insects which had bitten the dinosaurs are now fossilized in the amber.

The ancient Greeks observed this characteristic of amber and had a word for it, without knowing what caused it; that is, elektron which became our word, "electricity".

The current term for "electricity" is derived from the word electrica, first used by William Gilbert (1544-1603) in his epoch-making treatise De magnete, magneticisque corporibus, et de magno magnete tellure, published in 1600, to denote substances which possess a similar property to amber = electrum referring to attracting light objects when rubbed.

Benjamin Franklin introduced the concept of "positive electricity" and "negative electricity", and in 1752, he showed that lightning and electricity were the same components.

In the 19th century, a great number of industrial applications were introduced, based on magnetic, chemical, thermal, optical, and other properties of electricity.

As a consequence of electricity and electronics, the world has become a "global village" where anything happening in the remotest part of the world can be known to the whole world instantly, and people from all areas of the earth can interact and discuss matters of common interest in "real time".

—Compiled from various sources as seen in this
Electronic Bibliography page.
Electricity is essential for many people

Electricity is both a basic part of nature and one of our most widely used global forms of energy

Electricity is actually a secondary energy source known as an energy carrier. This means we get electricity from the conversion of other sources of energy; such as, coal, nuclear, wind, water power, solar energy, etc.

These sources of energy for electricity are called primary sources and the energy sources used to make electricity can be renewable or non-renewable, but electricity itself is neither renewable nor nonrenewable.

Electricity use has resulted in dramatic changes in the way our world exists because before electricity became available over 100 years ago, houses had no light at night or people used candles, then kerosene lamps. Food was cooled in iceboxes (or not at all), and rooms were warmed by wood-burning or coal-burning stoves.

Many scientists and inventors have worked to decipher the principles of electricity since the 1600s and notable accomplishments were made by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla.

Today, scientists are still studying electricity and learning more about it. They've learned that all citizens need to practice good safety habits, since electricity can be very dangerous.

Benjamin Franklin demonstrated that lightning is electricity, Thomas Edison invented the first long-lasting incandescent light bulb and Nikola Tesla discovered the principles of alternating electricity currents.

Before 1879, direct current (DC) electricity was used in arc lights for outdoor lighting. In the late 1800's, Nikola Tesla pioneered the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current (AC) electricity, which reduced the cost of transmitting electricity over long distances.

Tesla's inventions used electricity to bring indoor lighting to our homes and to power industrial machines.

In spite of the fact that electricity is important in the daily lives of people in industrialized nations, few probably stop to think what life would be like without electricity.

Regrettably, too many people in the world are still deprived of the pleasures and advantages of having access to electricity.

Like air and water, people who have normal use of electricity tend to take it for granted; even though they use electricity to do so many tasks every day; from lighting, heating, and cooling their homes to powering their televisions, kitchen equipment, computers, and other appliances run by electricity.

About the only time users of electricity really appreciate their electrical power and what it does is when it is cut off by storms or by some other abnormal situation.

—Compiled from various sources as seen in this
Electronic Bibliography page.

electric-light treatment, electric light treatment
The therapeutic application of electric light by means of cabinets in which the patient sits with the light directed on the affected body part.

Its therapeutic effect depends on the heat from the electric lights.

electride
In inorganic chemistry, an experimental compound made up of a positively charged ion of an alkali metal and an electron.

The electron functions as a chemical element in the formation of salts.

electrification
1. The process of applying an electric charge to a component or a device.
2. The fact of providing electric power to an area or to specific consumers.
3. The changing of a railway system, of electric for steam or other motive power to the conversion of a steam-railway, cable-railway, or horse-railway into an electric-railway.
4. The generation, distribution, and utilization of electricity.
Electrification Coalition
Mission Statement: A nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental, and national security dangers caused by our nation's dependence on petroleum.

The Coalition seeks to achieve its goals through a combination of public policy research and the education of policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public.

Equipped with exceptional research and analysis, these prominent business executives bring credibility, insight, and objectivity to the debate over electrification.

electrification ice nucleus
An ice nucleus that is formed by the fragmentation of dendritic crystals (mineral crystallized in the shape of a tree) exposed to an electric field strength of several hundred volts per centimeter.

It is a type of fragmentation nucleus.

electrifier
1. Something that charges with electricity or passes an electric current through things.
2. That which converts something; such as, a railroad line or a piece of machinery so that it can operate on electric power.
electrify
1. To charge which electricity.
2. Yo equip for the use of electric power; for example, some railroads once run by steam are now electrified. 4. To give an electric shock to.
5. To excite or to thrill.
electrine
Made of or related to amber; an imaginary substance, which is supposed by some to be the basis of electricity.
electrization
1. The act of electrizing; electrification or the application of electricity to the body.
2. The electric polarization divided by the permittivity of empty space.
electroacoustic (adjective), more electroacoustic, most electroacoustic
A reference to the operation or function of a loudspeaker or microphone, etc.: An electroacoustic process involves both electricity and acoustics (sounds) or the relationship of acoustic energy and electric energy.
electroacoustic locator (s) (noun), electroacoustic locators (pl)
A device for locating foreign objects in the human body: In surgery, an electroacoustic locator amplifies the sound made when an object is touched by a probe.
electro-acoustic music, electroacoustic music (s) (noun) (no pl)
The electronic generation and processing of audio signals or the electronic processing of natural sounds, and the manipulation and arrangement of these signals via tape recorders into a finished musical composition: "Electro-acoustic music is recorded and edited on tape and the reproduction involves the use of loudspeakers."

Some electroacoustic music is created by arranging electronically synthesized sounds into a formal pattern with musical qualities which might resemble those of normal musical instruments.

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.