electro-

A form of electricity — 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.

Similar
galvano-
OriginLatin electro- ← French électro- →
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Meanings

prefix
  1. in compoundsCombining form of electricity.
  2. in compoundsCombining form of electric and electrical.
  3. in compoundsCombining form of electronic.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
galvano-

Origin

  1. Frenchélectro-
  2. Latinēlectrum
  3. Latinelectro-
  4. Englishelectro-

Initially from French électro- and Latin electro-, ultimately from electrum, from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber”). Equivalent to and later based upon electric, electricity, &c. + -o-.

More words from French, Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic كَهْرُو-
  • كَهْرُو- (kahrū-)of electricity or electrical
Catalan electro-
  • electro-of electricity or electrical
Chinese Mandarin 電 /电
  • 電 /电 (diàn)of electricity or electrical
Czech elektro-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
Danish elektro-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
Dutch elektro-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
Finnish elektro-, sähkö-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
  • sähkö-of electricity or electrical
French électro-
  • électro-of electricity or electrical
German Elektro-, elektro-
  • Elektro-of electricity or electrical
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
Greek ηλεκτρο-
  • ηλεκτρο- (ilektro-)of electricity or electrical
Icelandic raf-
  • raf-of electricity or electrical
Irish leictri-
  • leictri-of electricity or electrical
Italian elettro-
  • elettro-of electricity or electrical
Japanese 電
  • 電 (den)of electricity or electrical
Malay elektro-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
Norwegian Bokmål elektro-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
Polish elektro-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
Portuguese eletro-
  • eletro-of electricity or electrical
Russian электро-
  • электро- (elektro-)of electricity or electrical
Spanish electro-
  • electro-of electricity or electrical
Swedish elektro-, el-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
  • el-of electricity or electrical
Tagalog elektro-, dagi-
  • elektro-of electricity or electrical
  • dagi-of electricity or electrical
Tamil மின்
  • மின் (miṉ)of electricity or electrical
Cite this entry
APA

electro-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/electro-

MLA

“electro-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/electro-. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “electro-,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/electro-.

Source: electro- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.