Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Electron
A negatively charged subatomic particle.
The Greek roots
ἤλεκτρον
ḗlektron
amber
Literally: “amber (that attracts)”
Follow a root:ἤλεκτρον14 words
The story of the word
The Greeks noticed that rubbed amber attracted straw. Their word for amber became the name of the charge — and of electricity itself.
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
In a sentence
An electron carries a single negative charge.