Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Hydroelectric
/ˌhaɪdroʊɪˈlɛktrɪk/adjective
Producing electricity from the force of moving water.
The Greek roots
ὕδωρ
hýdōr
water
ἤλεκτρον
ḗlektron
amber
Literally: “water amber”
The story of the word
The second half hides amber. ἤλεκτρον was fossil resin, which picks up straw and dust after rubbing, and William Gilbert built his Latin electricus on that trick in 1600. Bolted to ὕδωρ it made a word used from the 1820s for electricity raised by water, decades before any station sent current down a wire. Every dam is named after a lump of tree sap.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
hydranthydraulicdehydrateelectronelectrode
In a sentence
Norway covers most of its demand with hydroelectric power.
The old mill was converted into a small hydroelectric plant.