Electricitas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The physical phenomenon resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge; a form of energy responsible for powering devices and generating light and heat; a property of materials that exhibit attraction or repulsion due to charged particles
2. A natural force arising from charged particles causing attraction, repulsion, and power generation; an energy form that enables the operation of electrical circuits and lighting; a measurable attribute in certain substances indicating charge presence
3. The condition of possessing electric charge that produces observable forces and energy; a source of power for machinery and illumination; a characteristic of matter allowing interaction through attraction or repulsion of electrons

Etymology: "Electricitas" is the Latin word that William Gilbert coined in his 1600 treatise "De Magnete," where he named the property that made amber attract light objects after the Greek "ēlektron." Gilbert had noticed that rubbed amber, along with several other substances, drew small bits of straw and dust toward itself, and he needed a name for this behaviour. The Greek word for amber gave him his starting point, and Latin "-itas" (the suffix forming abstract nouns, as in "bonitas" for goodness) gave the new term its shape. The surprise is how far the root travels. Amber was the source of the Greek word, which Gilbert and his contemporaries took to be the defining example of the phenomenon, so an ordinary pale fossil resin ended up naming an entire branch of physics. The English "electricity" followed in the same decades, adapted from Gilbert's Latin, and the word has kept the connection to amber ever since.