Tronic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or involving electronic circuits and devices; describing technology that operates using controlled electric currents; connected with components or systems that manage electrical signals
2. Pertaining to the use or study of electronic systems and equipment; characterizing devices functioning through the flow of electrons; associated with components designed to process electrical information
3. Concerned with the application and design of devices based on electron flow; indicating instruments or gadgets that utilize electronic principles; linked to technology involving electronic circuitries and digital signals

Etymology: "Tronic" is a suffix rather than a word that stands alone, and it entered English in the 20th century as a shortened form of "electronic." The clipping was a practical one: "electronic" had become the everyday word for devices built on vacuum tubes and then transistors, and a short ending let manufacturers and writers attach the idea to a product name without the full length of the original. The result was a whole family of coinages. "Transistor" and "electronics" gave way to names like "Sinatra" no, rather: brands and terms such as "Discotronic" and "Videotronic" followed the pattern, placing "-tronic" after a noun to suggest a technology built on electronics. The ending is a clipping rather than a Greek or Latin morpheme, so its meaning comes entirely from the word it was cut from.