different between current vs electricity

English

Etymology

From Middle English curraunt, borrowed from Old French curant (French courant), present participle of courre (“to run”), from Latin currere, present active infinitive of curr? (“I run”) (present participle currens). Doublet of courant.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k???nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k???nt/, /?k???nt/
• (accents without the "Hurry-furry" merger)
• (accents with the "Hurry-furry" merger)

Noun

current (countable and uncountable, plural currents)

1. The generally unidirectional movement of a gas or fluid.
2. the part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction, especially (oceanography) short for ocean current.

   Synonyms: flow, stream

3. (electricity) the time rate of flow of electric charge.

   • Symbol: I (inclined upper case letter "I")
   • Units:

   SI: ampere (A)

   CGS: esu/second (esu/s)

   Synonym: electric current

4. a tendency or a course of events

   Synonyms: flow, stream, tendency

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

current (comparative currenter or more current, superlative currentest or most current)

1. existing or occurring at the moment

   Synonyms: present; see also Thesaurus:present

   Antonyms: future, past

2. generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment
   • 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations

     That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt.

   Synonyms: fashionable, prevailing, prevalent, rife, up-to-date; see also Thesaurus:fashionable

   Antonyms: out-of-date, unfashionable; see also Thesaurus:unfashionable

3. (obsolete) running or moving rapidly

   • Lik to the corrant fyr that renneth
     Upon a corde

   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien

     To chase a creature that was current then / In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns.

   Synonym: speeding

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Curtner

Latin

Verb

current

1. third-person plural future active indicative of curr?

English

Etymology

From electric +? -ity.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?i?lek?t??s?ti/, /??l?k?t??s?ti/, /??l?k?t??s?ti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??l?k?t??s?ti/, /i?l?k?t??s?ti/, /??l?k?t????s?ti/
• Rhymes: -?s?ti

Noun

electricity (usually uncountable, plural electricities)

1. 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. [from 17th c.]
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica^[1], 4th edition, p. 56:

     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 Cry?tal will calefie unto electricity?; that is, a power to attract ?traws or light bodies, and convert the needle freely placed.

   • 1747 July 28, Benjamin Franklin, letter to Peter Collinson, collected in New Experiments and Observations on Electricity, part I, 3rd edition, London: D. Henry and R. Cape, published 1760, page 8:

     For, re?toring the equilibrium in the bottle does not at all affect the Electricity in the man thro’ whom the fire pa??es?; that Electricity is neither increa?ed nor dimini?hed.

   • 2011, Jon Henley, The Guardian, 29 Mar 2011:

     How does it work, though? It's based on the observation made some 200 years ago that electricity can change the shape of flames.

2. (physics) The study of electrical phenomena; the branch of science dealing with such phenomena. [from 18th c.]
3. A feeling of excitement; a thrill. [from 18th c.]
4. Electric power/energy as used in homes etc., supplied by power stations or generators. [from 19th c.]
   • 2000, James Meek, Home-made answer to generating electricity harks back to the past, The Guardian:

     Householders could one day be producing as much electricity as all the country's nuclear power stations combined, thanks to the revolutionary application of a device developed in the early 19th century.

See also

• alternating current (AC)
• current
• energy
• power
• vacuum
• direct current (DC)
• vending machines
• earth
• electric current
• circuit
• electric circuit

Translations

See also

• electric
• electron

References

• Equivalent text in Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 6th edition (1672), p. 53
• de V. Heathcote, Niels H. (December 1967) , “The early meaning of electricity: Some Pseudodoxia Epidemica - I”, in Annals of Science, volume 23, issue 4, DOI:10.1080/00033796700203316, ISSN 0003-3790, WD Q54266797, pages 261–275