electro-

Noun

electricity (usually uncountable, plural electricities)

1. (usually) 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.
   • Again, the concretion of Ice will not endure a dry attrition without liquation ; for if it be rubbed long with a cloth, it melteth. But Cryſtal will calefie unto electricity ; that is, a power to attract ſtraws or light bodies, and convert the needle freely placed.1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 4th edition, page 56
2. (usually) The study of electrical phenomena; the branch of science dealing with such phenomena.
   • He took up the job of studying electricity in college.
3. (usually) A feeling of excitement; a thrill.
   • Opening night for the new production had an electricity unlike other openings.
4. (usually) Electrical power, as supplied by power stations or generators.
   • This heater draws more than a thousand watts of electricity.
5. (usually) Electrical energy, as supplied by power stations or generators.
   • Last year this portion of the grid consumed more than a thousand megawatt-hours of electricity.
6. (attributive, often, usually) The supply of electricity, as a utility.
   • Electricity bosses set to make record profits.

Adjective

electronic (not comparable)

1. Of or pertaining to an electron or electrons.
2. Operating on the physical behavior of electrons, especially in semiconductors.
   • electronic timer
3. Generated or transmitted by an electronic device.
   • electronic music
4. Of or pertaining to digital or computer technology.
5. Denoting a method analogous to the named non-electronic object or practice
   • electronic mail
6. Of or pertaining to the Internet.
   • In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74

See all 7 meanings of electronic