elektronos

Elektronos is a term that can refer to several related concepts in physics and language, linked by a common etymology. In ancient Greek, ἤλεκτρον (élektron) means amber. When amber is rubbed, it attracts small light objects, a property observed by early natural philosophers such as Thales of Miletus. The Greek root elektron is the source of the English word electricity and of the name given to the subatomic particle known today as the electron in many languages.

The electron is a fundamental subatomic particle carrying a negative electric charge. It has a rest mass of about 9.11 × 10^−31 kilograms and is a central component of atoms. The electron was identified in 1897 by J. J. Thomson, whose experiments showed that cathode rays consist of negatively charged particles. The electron is essential to chemistry, electronics, and many areas of physics, and its behavior is described by quantum mechanics and the Standard Model.

In language, the root elektron appears in terms across various languages. In German the particle is Elektron; in Russian it is электрон (elektron); in modern Greek the corresponding forms derive from ηλεκτρόνιο (ilektrónio) for the particle and ηλεκτρονικός (ilektronikós) for electronic. In transliterations and glossaries, forms such as elektronos or elektronos may appear as variants. All these usages ultimately trace back to the amber-origin word, connecting ancient observations of static electricity with the modern concept of the electron in physics.