Hydro

How to spell hydro

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce hydro

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hydro mean?

1. nounElectricity generated from flowing or falling water; hydroelectric power.
2. nounMains electricity, or the utility that supplies it, especially in Canadian usage.

Hydro in a sentence

• The mountainous region produces most of its power from hydro.

• The monthly hydro bill climbed sharply over the cold winter.

• The new dam will add a large amount of hydro to the national grid.

• An ice storm knocked out the hydro across the whole town for two days.

Where does hydro come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word is a clipping of longer compounds built on the Greek hudor, meaning simply 'water'. That root has fed English a whole family of scientific terms, including hydrogen (the element that 'generates water'), hydrant, and hydraulic. From the late 1800s 'hydro' was used in Britain as shorthand for a hydropathic establishment, a spa hotel where guests took water cures. In the twentieth century it became shorthand for hydroelectricity, power generated from flowing or falling water, and in Canada it broadened into an everyday term for mains electricity and the utilities that supply it. The kept-in 'y' that spells the Greek hudor is the only thing for a writer to watch, since the word otherwise reads exactly as it sounds.

How the word is built

• hydro- (from Greek hudor: water), used here as a standalone clipped noun