galvanize

Etymology

From French galvaniser, from galvanisme, named after Italian physiologist Luigi Aloisio Galvani (1737–1798).

verb

1. (chemistry) To coat with a thin layer of metal by electrochemical means.
2. To coat with rust-resistant zinc.
   to galvanize steel
3. (figurative) To shock or stimulate into sudden activity, as if by electric shock.
   The girl’s picture helped galvanize public opinion against the administration’s policy.
   Republicans are hoping a proposed gas-tax repeal will galvanize their voters.
   The arrival of the kett stunned and then divided the angara. As described by Jaal, infighting was used as a means of conquest by the kett, but the presence of a common enemy eventually galvanized the angara to work together. The various resistance groups merged into the organized Angaran Resistance roughly five years ago under Evfra de Tershaav's command, supported by prominent families and determined to stop their kett oppressors. 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Angara: The Resistance Codex entry
4. (archaic) To electrify, as by galvanism.
   The agitations resembled the grinnings and writhings of a galvanized corpse, not the struggles of an athletic man. 1835, Thomas Babington Macaulay, History (essay in the Edinburgh Review)
5. (historical, US) To switch sides between Union and Confederate in the American Civil War.
   Reenactors called this “galvanizing,” the Civil War term for soldiers who switched sides during the conflict. 1998, Tony Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic, 1st Vintage Departures edition, Vintage Books, page 10