Volting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of leaping or springing energetically ; the process of fencing attacks involving rapid thrusts ; the act of changing electrical polarity or current direction
2. The motion of jumping or bounding with vigor ; an offensive move in swordplay characterized by sudden lunges ; reversing or shifting electric charge flow
3. Energetic jumping or vaulting movements ; a swift assault or counterattack in the sport of sword fighting ; the alteration of electrical polarity or switching of current pathways

Etymology: Volting is simply the present participle and gerund of "volt", so the story belongs to that verb. The unit was named after Alessandro Volta, the Italian physicist, in honour of his work on electricity, and the sense of reversing or shifting electric charge grows directly from that electrical use. The verb's other senses, the leaping or bounding motion and the sudden lunge in swordplay, come from the French "volte", a turn or sudden movement, which in turn traces back to the idea of turning. Because volting is a form of "volt", its history is the history of that verb. The older sense of the French source is a turn, which explains why both the fencing lunge and the bounding leap feel like quick changes of direction.