Who coined the term "electricity" and how did they come up with that term?

sequoianoir

Well "electric" comes from the new Latin "Lectricus" which was derived from the static electicity produced from rubbing of amber (Latin: electrum) which came from Greek - elektron Electrostaic was: elektron + statikos = causing to stand; from statos = placed, standing [Feb 06 04 5:32 PM] sequoianoir writes: It was coined by William Gilbert in his scientific text De magnete (written in Latin in 1600) Feb 06 04, 5:21 PM

jbean

It's from the Latin 'electrum'...the word for amber (the petrified resin). The ancients discovered static electricity after playing around with the stuff. [Feb 06 04 5:35 PM] jbean writes: William Gilbert (1544-1603) www.ask.com: He is best known for his studies of electricity and magnetism. He coined the word electricity (from the Greek for “amber”), was the first to distinguish clearly between electric and magnetic phenomena, and published (1600) De Magnete, the most important work on magnetism until the early 19th century. Feb 06 04, 5:28 PM