Hydroelectric

How to spell hydroelectric

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce hydroelectric

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hydroelectric mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to electricity generated by the force of falling or flowing water.

Hydroelectric in a sentence

• The dam supplies cheap hydroelectric power to the whole valley.

• The country relies on hydroelectric generation for most of its energy.

Where does hydroelectric come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This is a compound built from two Greek roots that English assembled in the nineteenth century. The first part, hydro-, comes from the Greek hydor, meaning simply 'water', the same element seen in words like hydrant and hydraulic. The second part traces to the Greek elektron, which originally meant 'amber'; ancient observers noticed that rubbing amber attracted light objects, so when scientists named the mysterious force behind such attraction they reached back to that word, giving us 'electric'. Joining them, hydroelectric describes electricity generated by the force of moving water, and it came into regular use as large dams and water-driven turbines were developed in the late 1800s. The spelling trap lies in the seam between the parts: the 'o' of hydro- bumps straight into the 'e' of electric, so writers must remember the vowel pair 'oe' in the middle rather than dropping or doubling a letter.

How the word is built

• hydro- (water, from Greek hydor)
• electr- (electricity, from Greek elektron 'amber')
• -ic (adjective suffix)