Words with a jolt

September 2nd, 2009 at 07:00am Barry Wood

The verb “galvanize” has two specific meanings when applied to electricity: “to supply an electric current to” and “to plate metal with zinc.” 

Generically, it can mean “to stimulate as if by electric shock,” so “galvanizing” is a cut above most motivation techniques. It should be confined to truly rousing or stirring situations.

Similarly, the adjective “galvanic” is equated with “startling or convulsive.”

The terms were inspired by 18th-century Italian physician and scientist Luigi Galvani, whose experiments with frogs and electricity were instrumental in the development of producing direct current by a chemical reaction — as with the storage battery.

Galvani was able to make dead frogs dance — now that’s galvanizing.

Entry Filed under: definitions, word origins