30-second summary
Term “electric”
Beginning in 1570, an English physician William Gilbert studied among others attractive forces produced by rubbing amber. He found that a number of gems such as diamond, sapphire, amethyst, opal, and even ordinary rock crystal produced such attractive forces when rubbed. He called these substances “electrics.” A substance showing such an attractive force was said to be electrified or to have gained an electric charge.
The word electrica, which comes from word “elektron” (the Greek word for amber), gave rise to the words electric, electricity, and their relatives because of amber’s ability to bear a charge of static electricity.
