elektronisk

Elektronisk is an adjective used in Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish to describe something that relates to or uses electronics. It is generally applied to devices, systems, and media that rely on electronic components such as transistors, integrated circuits, or digital circuits. The term often contrasts with electrical, which more specifically concerns electricity, power, and phenomena not involving active electronic processing.

Origin: The form is built from the noun elektron (the particle electron) in Scandinavian languages, which itself derives from the Greek elektron meaning amber. The suffix -isk forms the adjective, yielding "elektronisk" to denote electronic properties or technology. The term is closely related to the English electronic and shares the same roots.

Common usages include elektronisk post (electronic mail), elektroniske dokumenter (electronic documents), elektronisk handel (electronic commerce), and elektronisk musikk (electronic music). In contemporary contexts, elektronisk signering (electronic signing), elektroniske betalinger (electronic payments), and elektronisk arkivering (electronic archiving) are common terms.

In the digital era, elektronisk is a core term in technology policy, user interfaces, and product naming. It serves as a semantic counterpart to "digital" in many languages, though the two can overlap; electronic often refers to circuitry and devices, while digital emphasizes information processed in discrete steps. The prefix "e-" is also widely used to denote electronic services and platforms.

See also: electronics, electronic data processing, e-commerce, electronic mail.