Electric Meaning
/ɪˈlɛktɹɪk/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf, relating to, produced by, operated with, or utilising electricity; electrical.
adjOf or relating to an electronic version of a musical instrument that has an acoustic equivalent.
Sentence Examples
The strong wind cut the electric wires in several places.
We tend to use more and more electric appliances in the home.
An electric motor is used to pump the water.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ current flowed through the wire and lit up the bulb immediately.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The strong wind cut the ____ wires in several places.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
"[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."
— 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
"While Britain continues to argue about how to deliver affordable electrification and decarbonisation, Swiss railways have been 100% electric since the 1960s."
— 2022 December 14, Ben Jones, “Switzerland: a template for Northern Powerhouse Rail?”, in RAIL, number 972, page 28:
"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.""
— 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 278:
"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."
— a. 1857, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Vision of Poets”, in Poems, volume I, New York: C. S. Francis & Co., published 1857, pages 195–196:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ current flowed through the wire and lit up the bulb immediately.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The strong wind cut the ____ wires in several places.