electricity

Etymology

From electric + -ity.

noun

1. Originally, a property of amber and certain other nonconducting substances to attract lightweight material when rubbed, or the cause of this property; now understood to be a phenomenon caused by the distribution and movement of charged subatomic particles and their interaction with the electromagnetic field.
   Again, the concretion of Ice will not endure a dry attrition without liquation ; for if it be rubbed long with a cloth, it melteth. But Cryſtal will calefie unto electricity ; that is, a power to attract ſtraws or light bodies, and convert the needle freely placed. 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 4th edition, page 56
   For, reſtoring the equilibrium in the bottle does not at all affect the Electricity in the man thro’ whom the fire paſſes ; that Electricity is neither increaſed nor diminiſhed. 1747 July 28, Benjamin Franklin, letter to Peter Collinson, collected in New Experiments and Observations on Electricity, part I, 3rd edition, London: D. Henry and R. Cape, published 1760, page 8
   Attraction, then, is the first phenomenon that arrests our attention, and it is one that is constantly attendant on excitation. It is therefore considered a sure indicator of the presence of electricity in an active state, and forms the basis of all its tests. 1837, William Leithead, Electricity, page 5
   We may express all these results in a concise and consistent manner by describing an electrified body as charged with a certain quantity of electricity, which we may denote by e. 1873, James Clerk Maxwell, A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
   How does it work, though? It's based on the observation made some 200 years ago that electricity can change the shape of flames. 29 Mar 2011, Jon Henley, The Guardian
2. (physics) The study of electrical phenomena; the branch of science dealing with such phenomena.
3. A feeling of excitement; a thrill.
   Opening night for the new production had an electricity unlike other openings.
   The electricity was crackling around Celtic Park even before a ball had been kicked, the home crowd unleashing noise and colour and every ounce of passion in their bodies on the visitors. 28 September 2016, Tom English, “Celtic 3–3 Manchester City”, in BBC Sport
4. Electric power/energy as used in homes etc., supplied by power stations or generators.
   Householders could one day be producing as much electricity as all the country's nuclear power stations combined, thanks to the revolutionary application of a device developed in the early 19th century. 2000, James Meek, Home-made answer to generating electricity harks back to the past The Guardian
   [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages. 2013-07-20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845