electricity
(iːlɛk-, ɛlɛkˈtrɪsɪtɪ)
[f. electric + -ity.]
1. In early use, the distinctive property of ‘electric bodies’, like amber, glass, etc., i.e., their power when excited by friction to attract light bodies placed near them; also, the state of excitation produced in such bodies by friction. Subsequently the name was given to the cause of this phenomenon and of many others which were discovered to be of common origin with it, e.g. the electric spark, lightning, the galvanic current, etc. Franklin considered electric phenomena to be due to a subtle fluid diffused through all bodies, the excess of which above its normal quantity constituted ‘positive electricity’, and its deficiency below the normal quantity ‘negative electricity’; but he also used ‘electricity’ as a name for the fluid itself. Others believed ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ electricity to be two distinct fluids, which when combined neutralized each other. Before the formulation of the present theory of atomic structure (see note to atom n. 1), the prevailing view was that electricity is ‘a peculiar condition either of the molecules of the electrified body or of the ether which surrounds them’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.). The term ‘electric fluid’ survived for some time in popular language, and the names ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ electricity (also an inheritance from Franklin's theory) are still retained in scientific use.
Electricity may be developed by any means that produces disturbance of the molecular condition of bodies: by friction (frictional electricity), by chemical action (galvanic electricity), by heat (thermal electricity), by magnetism (magnetic electricity). Occasionally electricity and its related adjs. are used in a narrower sense with reference to the electricity produced by friction, as distinguished from galvanism or from magnetic or thermal electricity.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. i. 51 Crystal will calefy into electricity; that is, a power to attract strawes or light bodies, and convert the needle freely placed. Ibid. 79 Saltes..if gently warmed..will better discover their Electricities. 1668 Phil. Trans. III. 850 Observations about the Electricity of Bodies. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. ii, Such powers in nature as magnetism and electricity. 1747 Franklin Lett. Wks. 1840 V. 195 Restoring the equilibrium in the bottle does not at all affect the electricity in the man. 1770 Priestley in Phil. Trans. LX. 209 The difference of the two electricities. 1794 J. Hutton Philos. Light, &c. 232 Electricity..is distinctly different from both light and heat. 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 569, I began to use electricity, by small shocks. 1834 M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxviii. (1849) 310 Electricity may be called into activity by mechanical power, by chemical action, by heat, and by magnetic influence. 1837 Brewster Magnet. 273 Feebler electricities will..produce the sheets of summer lightning. 1885 S. P. Thompson Electr. & Magn. 9 Electricity may either reside upon the surface of bodies as a charge, or flow through their substance as a current. |
b. Preceded by adjs. denoting (a) the source or mode of production, as frictional electricity, galvanic electricity, induced electricity, magnetic electricity, thermal electricity, vital electricity, voltaic electricity; (b) the place of development, as animal electricity, atmospheric electricity, organic electricity; (c) the quality, as active electricity, constant electricity, free electricity, negative electricity, positive electricity. vitreous electricity, resinous electricity: older synonyms for positive and negative electricity, which were first observed as resulting from the friction of glass and of resinous bodies respectively.
| 1755 Franklin Let. 14 Mar. Wks. 1882 V. 341 Their negative electricity [is] increased. 1799 E. Darwin Phytol. 310 (T.) Two electrick fluids diffused together, and strongly attracting each other; one..vitreous, the other resinous, electricity. 1832 Nat. Phil. II. Galvan. iv. §30. 12 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.) The circulation of voltaic electricity produces an elevation of temperature. Ibid. Electr. ii. §49. 13 The body is said to be negatively electrified, or to have negative electricity. Ibid. Positively electrified, or to have positive electricity. 1850 tr. Humboldt's Cosmos III. 189 Transitions of atmospheric electricity to an opposite condition. |
2. fig.
| 1791 Burke Regic. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 110 They [ambassadors] will become true conductors of contagion to every country which has had the misfortune to send them to the source of that electricity. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 175 Wait a little, till the entire nation is in an electric state; till your whole vital Electricity..is cut into two isolated portions of Positive and Negative (of Money and of Hunger). 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 24 The electricity of human brotherhood. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 73 The natural electricity of youth. |
3. The branch of physical science which deals with the nature and phenomena of electrical action.
| 1734 Desaguliers Course Exper. Philos. 450 Gray has found out several new Phenomena in Electricity. 1796 Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 107 That new..wonderful art of electricity, which screens their hotels from the thunder. 1885 S. P. Thompson (title) Lessons in Electricity and Magnetism. |
4. Comb., as electricity-laden adj.
| 1884 Century Mag. XXVII. 922 The electricity-laden raindrops. |
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Add: [1.] c. Electric power, as supplied to buildings, etc., from a power station or generator; a supply of such power for domestic use.
| 1899 Daily News 15 June 6/5 The motor power of the future was not to be steam..but electricity. 1910 Encycl. Brit. IX. 202/2 The organization of house-to-house distribution of electricity from small ‘central stations’. 1920 [see cycle n. 3 b]. 1932 [see radiogram n.2]. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxviii. 181 Fixed to the wall was a coach lamp converted to electricity, not as yet lit. 1974 Ann. Reg. 1973 22 Domestic consumers were put on their honour to heat only one room with electricity. 1986 E. E. Atkins Tales from our Cornish Island 16 Now we could only have electricity if we could get the generator going ourselves. |