#initial-load-header-loader { visibility: hidden!important; } #initial-load-content { visibility: visible!important; } .expandable .expandable-control { display: none!important; } .expandable .expandable-content { display: block!important; visibility: visible!important; max-height: none!important; height: auto!important; }

electric

[ih-lek-trik]

||

adjective

pertaining to, derived from, produced by, or involving electricity: an electric shock.

producing, transmitting, or operated by electric currents: an electric bell; electric cord.

electrifying; thrilling; exciting; stirring: The atmosphere was electric with excitement.

(of a musical instrument)

producing sound by electrical or electronic means: an electric piano.
equipped with connections to an amplifier-loudspeaker system: an electric violin.

noun

Railroads.

an electric locomotive.
Informal.a railroad operated by electricity.

electricity: residential users of gas and electric.

something, as an appliance, vehicle, or toy, operated by electricity.

Archaic. a substance that is a nonconductor of electricity, as glass or amber, used to store or to excite an electric charge.

Origin of electric

1640–50; < New Latin electricus, equivalent to Latin ēlectr(um) amber (see electrum) + -icus -ic

Related formsnon·e·lec·tric, adjective, nounpre·e·lec·tric, adjectiveun·e·lec·tric, adjective

Synonyms for electric

3. spirited, rousing, dynamic.

Antonyms for electric

3. dull, uninspired, prosaic.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for non-electric

Historical Examples of non-electric

The Ocean is a compound of water, a non-electric, and salt an electric per se.
Experiments and Observations on Electricity made at Philadelphia in America
Benjamin Franklin
We since find, that the fire in the bottle is not contained in the non-electric, but in the glass.
Experiments and Observations on Electricity made at Philadelphia in America
Benjamin Franklin
So if a tube lined with a non-electric, be rubb'd, little or no fire is obtained from it.
Experiments and Observations on Electricity made at Philadelphia in America
Benjamin Franklin
These three instances are all I have time to give of the former conditions of serene weather, and of non-electric rain-cloud.
The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century
John Ruskin
The fire in the bottle was found by subsequent experiments not to be contained in the non-electric, but in the glass.
The Complete Works in Philosophy, Politics and Morals of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin, [Vol 1 of 3]
Benjamin Franklin

British Dictionary definitions for non-electric

electric

adjective

of, derived from, produced by, producing, transmitting, or powered by electricityelectric current; an electric cord; an electric blanket; an electric fence; an electric fire

(of a musical instrument) amplified electronicallyan electric guitar; an electric mandolin

very tense or exciting; emotionally chargedan electric atmosphere

noun

informal an electric train, car, etc

British informal electricity or electrical power

(plural) an electric circuit or electric appliances

Word Origin for electric

C17: from New Latin electricus amber-like (because friction causes amber to become charged), from Latin ēlectrum amber, from Greek ēlektron, of obscure origin

xref

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for non-electric

electric

adj.

1640s, first used in English by physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), apparently coined as Modern Latin electricus (literally "resembling amber") by English physicist William Gilbert (1540-1603) in treatise "De Magnete" (1600), from Latin electrum "amber," from Greek elektron "amber" (Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus), also "pale gold" (a compound of 1 part silver to 4 of gold); of unknown origin.

Originally the word described substances which, like amber, attract other substances when rubbed. Meaning "charged with electricity" is from 1670s; the physical force so called because it first was generated by rubbing amber. In many modern instances, the word is short for electrical. Figurative sense is attested by 1793. Electric toothbrush first recorded 1936; electric typewriter 1958.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

non-electric in Science

electric

[ĭ-lĕk′trĭk]

Relating to or operated by electricity. Compare electronic.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.