Electrician

How to spell electrician

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce electrician

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does electrician mean?

1. nounA person whose job is to install, maintain and repair electrical wiring and equipment.

Electrician in a sentence

• We hired a qualified electrician to rewire the kitchen.

• The electrician checked the fuse box before restoring the power.

Where does electrician come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word electrician is built on electric, which traces back to the Greek elektron, the word for amber, the fossilised tree resin that the ancient Greeks noticed could attract light objects like straw or feathers after being rubbed. In the early 1600s the English scientist William Gilbert coined the Latin term electricus, meaning 'of or like amber', to describe this attractive force, and from it English took the adjective electric. The suffix -ian, which marks a person who practises or specialises in something (as in musician and physician), was added to name the tradesperson who installs and repairs electrical systems. This trade sense became common in the late 1800s as homes and cities were wired for power. The spelling trap lives in that ending: it is -cian, not -tion or -shun, even though the final syllable sounds like 'shun'.

How the word is built

• electr- (from Greek elektron: amber)
• -ic (adjective)
• -ian (one who practises)