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Origin and history of electrical

electrical(adj.)

1630s, "giving off electricity when rubbed," from electric + -al (1). Meaning "relating to electricity, run by electricity" is from 1746. Related: Electrically.

also from 1630s

Entries linking to electrical

electric(adj.)

1640s, first used in English by physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), apparently coined as Modern Latin electricus (literally "resembling amber") by English physicist William Gilbert (1540-1603) in treatise "De Magnete" (1600), from Latin electrum "amber," from Greek ēlektron "amber" (Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus), also "pale gold" (a compound of 1 part silver to 4 of gold); which is of unknown origin.

Vim illam electricam nobis placet appellare [Gilbert]

Originally the word described substances which, like amber, attract other substances when rubbed. Meaning "charged with electricity" is from 1670s; the physical force so called because it first was generated by rubbing amber. In many modern instances, the word is short for electrical. Figurative sense is attested by 1793. Electric light is from 1767. Electric toothbrush first recorded 1936; electric blanket in 1930. Electric typewriter is from 1958. Electric guitar is from 1938; electric organ coined as the name of a hypothetical future instrument in 1885.

-al(1)

suffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, "of, like, related to, pertaining to," Middle English -al, -el, from French or directly from Latin -alis (see -al (2)).

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    spark
    The electrical sense," flash or streak of light from discharge between two near conductors," dates from 1748....The electrical engine spark plug is recorded by 1902 (sparking plug is from 1899), the figurative sense of "one who initiates...Sparks as a slang nickname for anyone working with electrical equipment is by 1919....
    circuit
    Electrical sense "arrangement by which a current is kept up between two poles" is from 1746....Circuit-breaker "device for automatically opening an electrical circuit" is recorded from 1874. Related: Circuital....
    amplification
    Originally in English often of rhetorical devices; the meaning "enlargement of sound by electrical technology" is from 1915...
    attenuation
    The general sense of "a making less dense" is from 1590s; specifically of electrical currents by 1838....
    closed
    Closed circuit "complete, unbroken (electrical) circuit" is attested from 1827; closed shop "workplace in which only union...
    galvanized
    Iron covered with zinc has been called galvanised iron, from the fact that we have two metals in different electrical conditions...
    shock
    The electrical sense of "momentary stimulation of the sensory nerves and muscles caused by a sudden surge in electrical current...
    orange
    late 14c., in reference to the fruit of the orange tree (late 13c. as a surname), from Old French orange, orenge (12c., Modern French orange), from Medieval Latin pomum de orenge, from Italian arancia, originally narancia (Venetian naranza), an alteration of Arabic naranj, from P
    dodge
    1560s, "go this way and that in speech or action," a sense now obsolete; from 1680s as "start suddenly aside, shift suddenly," as to evade a blow;" 1704 as "to move to and fro, shift about;" origin and sense evolution obscure. Perhaps it is from or akin to Scottish and Northern E
    Salem
    place mentioned in Genesis xiv.18, from Hebrew Shālēm, usually said to be another name for Jerusalem and to mean "peace" (compare Hebrew shalom, Arabic salaam). A typical meetinghouse name among Baptists and Methodists, so much so that by mid-19c. it (along with Bethel and Ebenez

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