Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Piezoelectric
/piˌeɪzoʊɪˈlɛktrɪk/adjective
Producing an electric charge under mechanical pressure, and changing shape when a voltage is applied.
The Greek roots
πιέζειν
piézein
to press, squeeze
ἤλεκτρον
ḗlektron
amber
Literally: “pressure amber”
The story of the word
Squeeze a quartz crystal and a voltage appears across its faces, which is what Jacques and Pierre Curie demonstrated in 1880. The name that followed joins πιέζειν, to press, with electric, and electric goes back to ἤλεκτρον, amber, the fossil resin that lifts straw off a table after a rub on wool. So the word says press-the-amber in Greek twice over. Quartz watches, gas lighters and ultrasound probes all run on the effect.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1880s
Same family
electronelectricitypiezometer
In a sentence
The igniter is piezoelectric: press the button, strike the crystal, get a spark.
Piezoelectric sensors glued to the deck picked up every truck crossing the bridge.