electronic

Pluralelectronics

1. 1
   adjective

   Describing a device, circuit or system that works by controlling the flow of electrons, as through transistors and microchips.

   The engineers redesigned the electronic control unit for better fuel efficiency.

   Most electronic components are sensitive to static discharge.

2. 2
   adjective

   Done, sent or stored by computer, especially over the Internet, rather than on paper or in person.

   She prefers electronic banking to visiting a branch.

   Applicants must send an electronic application through the university's website by March 1.

   UsageOften shortened to e- in compounds: email, e-commerce, e-banking.

   Similaronline, digital

   Note

   Here the word stops describing circuitry and starts describing a medium: the computer-based counterpart of paper and post, most often online. The Economist in 2013 could speak of junk mail "of both the physical and electronic varieties," and that pairing is the natural test. In this sense the word is set against physical, not against mechanical.

3. 3
   adjective

   Produced by an electronic device rather than by natural or mechanical means.

   The album blends electronic beats with live instruments.

   Engineers filtered out the electronic hum from the recording.

   Oppositeacoustic

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A device that works by electronic circuits, such as a phone, laptop or television; used mostly in the plural, electronics.

   The store's spring sale cut prices on most home electronics, from laptops to big-screen televisions.

   The recycling center collects old electronics from residents.

   UsageUsually plural: home electronics, old electronics. For one item, an electronic device is more usual than "an electronic."

   Similargadget, device

5. 5
   adjective

   Relating to an electron or to the electrons of an atom or molecule.

   The electronic configuration of carbon allows it to form four bonds.

   Spectroscopy reveals electronic transitions between energy levels.

   Note

   The chemist's and physicist's sense, and the one closest to how the word was made: electron plus the adjective-forming -ic. It describes electrons themselves and how they are arranged or move in an atom or molecule, as in electronic structure or electronic states. It does not mean run by circuitry, which is the engineering meaning.

Showing meanings only. Show all 5