Etymology

hydroelectric

H4Y4D2R1O1E1L1E1C3T1R1I1C3

Today it means: That generates electricity by converting the energy of moving water, or of steam escaping under high pressure. Full definition →

English electric ← New Latin ēlectricus ← Latin ēlectrum
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wed-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wódr̥
  3. Proto-Hellenic*údōr
  4. Ancient Greekῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)
  5. Ancient Greekῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)
  6. Englishhydro-
  7. Ancient Greekἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron)
  8. Latinēlectrum
  9. New Latinēlectricus
  10. Englishelectric
  11. English todayhydroelectric

From hydro- + electric.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.