different between plectrum vs electrum

English

Alternative forms

• plectron

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pl?ctrum, from Ancient Greek ???????? (plêktron, “anything to strike with, an instrument for striking the lyre, a spear point”), from ???????? (pl?ssein, “to strike, to smite, to sting”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pl?k.t??m/

Noun

plectrum (plural plectrums or plectra)

1. (music) A small piece of plastic, metal, ivory, etc., for plucking the strings of a guitar, lyre, mandolin, etc.
2. (anatomy, zoology) A projection of bone or other stiff tissue, such as the ridges in some insects' stridulatory organs.

Synonyms

• (music): guitar pick; pick; plectre (obsolete)

Translations

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pl?ctrum, from Ancient Greek ???????? (plêktron).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pl?k.tr?m/
• Hyphenation: plec?trum

Noun

plectrum n (plural plectrums or plectra, diminutive plectrumpje n)

1. plectrum, pick (object for plucking certain string instruments)

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ???????? (plêktron), from ?????? (pl?ss?, “to strike, sting”), also analyzable as pl?ct? +? -trum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?ple?k.trum/, [?p??e?kt?????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?plek.trum/, [?pl?kt??um]

Noun

pl?ctrum n (genitive pl?ctr?); second declension

1. a plectrum; tool for playing a stringed instrument
2. a lyre, lute

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Descendants

• ? English: plectrum
• ? French: plectre
• ? Italian: plettro
• ? Portuguese: plectro
• ? Spanish: plectro

Further reading

• plectrum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• plectrum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• plectrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• plectrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• plectrum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• plectrum in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

English

Etymology

From Latin electrum, from Ancient Greek ???????? (?lektron).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??l?kt??m/

Noun

electrum (countable and uncountable, plural electrums)

1. (obsolete) Amber.
2. An alloy of gold and silver, used by the ancients; now specifically a natural alloy with between 20 and 50 per cent silver.
   • 1995, Paul T. Craddock, Early Metal Mining and Production, page 111:

     Native gold almost always contains silver in amounts varying widely between 5 and 50 per cent. This natural alloy is known as electrum although in classical antiquity where the word originated it seems to have been used for an artificial alloy of the two metals.

   • 2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2004, p. 45:

     A natural alloy containing more than 20 per cent silver is called electrum, and was regarded by the ancients as a different metal from gold.

3. German silver plate.

Translations

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2021) , “Electrum”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database
• “electrum”, in Mindat.org?^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2021.

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???????? (?lektron).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /e??lek.trum/, [e?????kt?????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /e?lek.trum/, [??l?kt??um]

Noun

?lectrum n (genitive ?lectr?); second declension

1. amber
2. electrum (alloy of gold and silver)
3. (New Latin, physics) electron

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

References

• electrum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• electrum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• electrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• electrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• electrum in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia?^[2]
• electrum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• electrum in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Etymology

From French électrum.

Noun

electrum n (uncountable)

1. electrum

Declension