Wordsmith: Where did “electricity” come from?

Did you know that there used to be a time when the term “electric” meant “attractive”? 

The term “electric” is said to have come from the Classical Latin word “electrum”, which meant “amber”. Why amber? Because amber, as observed by William Gilbert, has attractive properties. Hence, the New Latin declined term “electricus” – meaning “of amber” – was coined and was therefore used in his 1600 text, titled De Magnete.

The word “Electric” was first used in the English language by Sir Francis Bacon to describe materials like amber – meaning, those that have the capability to attract other objects. The first use of the word “electricity” is attributed to Sir Thomas Brown in his 1646 work, titled Pseudodoxia Epidemica.

Again, The concretion of Ice will not endure a dry attrition without liquation; for if it be rubbed long with a cloth, it melteth. But Crystal will calefie unto electricity; that is, a power to attract strawes and light bodies, and convert the needle freely placed

—Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 1st edition, p. 51

In the context of the quote above, an “electric” (spelled “electrick” in those times) was a non-conductor. Confusing, eh? An “electric” during those times was actually an object that were capable of attracting light bodies (much like bits of paper) when excited by friction. Following this logic, a piece of amber was therefore an “electric”, while a rod of iron was not. “Electricity”, during that era, was a term used to describe the property of behaving like “electrics”.

There came, then, the time when the definition of “electricity” shifted to refer to the cause of the attraction rather than to the property of being attractive.

The meaning of the word further evolved. Today, a large majority of publications no longer refer to “electricity” as “electric charge”; instead they speak of “electricity” as “electromagnetic energy”. The definition has changed even more drastically: Many authors now use the word “electricity” to mean “electric current” (amperes), “energy flow” (watts), “electric potential” (volts), or “electric force”.

These myriad definition could probably be the reason why the term “Quantity of Electricity” – frequently used in the works of Franklin, Faraday, Maxwell, Millikan, J. J. Thomson and, even, Einstein – is already seeing less usage from present-day scientists. Physics textbooks no longer utilize the terms “Quantity of Electricity” or “Flow of Electricity”. “Quantity of Electricity” is gradually being replaced by “charge of electricity” or simply “charge”. Owing to the great discrepancy of the meaning of the term “electricity” in different situations, today’s energy industry experts prefer to use the term “charge” to refer to the quantity of electricity to avoid any possible confusion.  

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