"electricity" in seven languages

Meaningelectricity

Spanish

electricidad

/elektɾiθiˈdad/

fem.learned

For the household supply, Spaniards often just say la luz.

French

électricité

/elɛktʁisite/

fem.learned

Italian

elettricità

/elettritʃiˈta/

fem.learned

Portuguese

eletricidade

/eletɾisiˈdadʒi/

fem.learned

Romanian

electricitate

/elektritʃiˈtate/

fem.borrowed · French électricité

Catalan

electricitat

/ələktɾisiˈtat/

fem.learned

English

electricity

/ɪlɛkˈtɹɪsəti/

from Latin/French · Modern Latin electricus

English → ItalianelectricityelettricitàCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

ĒLECTRUM‘amber (Greek ēlektron)’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

Electricity is 'amber-ness': rubbed amber attracts light objects. Italian assimilates ct to tt even in this modern learned word.

English relatives: electric, electron, electronic