Overvolt

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To expose an electrical device or component to a voltage higher than its rated maximum, potentially causing damage or malfunction
2. To apply an electrical potential above the safe operating limit to a piece of equipment or circuit
3. To supply electrical voltage in excess of what a device is designed to handle, risking degradation or failure

Etymology: "Overvolt" is a straightforward formation: the prefix "over-", meaning excessive or beyond the normal amount, attached to "volt", the unit of electric potential named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. Put together, the word describes supplying a device or circuit with more voltage than it was designed to handle. The prefix does most of the work here. "Over-" has been productive in English for centuries, used in words such as "overheat" and "overload", and it lets engineers and hobbyists coin a verb on the spot for a specific kind of excess. Because "volt" is a unit name rather than an everyday word, the compound reads as technical shorthand, and it is most often heard in electronics, where pushing a component past its rated voltage can damage or destroy it.