What does electrocute mean?
Electrocute is a verb meaning to kill — or, in common loose usage, severely injure — someone by means of an electric shock. The word was coined in late nineteenth-century America, blending "electric" with "execute", at precisely the moment when the electric chair was introduced as a method of capital punishment, so its history is literally bound up with execution by electricity. Today it appears most often in news reports of workplace accidents, faulty wiring, downed power lines, and household mishaps: workers are electrocuted on construction sites, swimmers are electrocuted by stray current in marinas, and children are warned not to poke objects into electrical outlets. Strictly, some style guides reserve the word for fatal shocks, recommending "electric shock" for survivable ones, but the broader sense is now fully accepted. Its derivatives include "electrocution" (the act or process) and "electrocuted" (the adjective/participle form).
verbTo injure or kill someone by electric shock. In strict usage, the word implies death, but it is widely used for non-fatal shocks as well.
- To kill someone by means of an electric shock.
- (Loosely) To give someone a severe, potentially harmful electric shock without causing death.
"The worker was electrocuted when he touched a live cable."
"A maintenance worker was electrocuted after cutting into a live power line."
"She nearly got electrocuted trying to fix the toaster with a metal fork."
The word "electrocute" was coined in the 1880s as a blend of "electric" and "execute," invented to describe killing by the newly introduced electric chair — making it one of the few English words created specifically for a method of execution.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of electrocute
Electrocute was coined in the United States in the 1880s, a blend of "electric" and "execute", coined around the introduction of the electric chair as a means of capital punishment; early uses referred specifically to putting someone to death electrically. It derives ultimately from the New Latin "electricus", from Greek "ēlektron" meaning amber — the substance whose static attraction gave electricity its name. Related words sharing this root include "electric", "electricity", and "electron".
Related word forms
How electrocute is actually used
Strictly speaking, "electrocute" derives from "electric" + "execute" and originally meant only death by electricity; many style guides still reserve it for fatal shocks and prefer "received an electric shock" for non-fatal incidents. In everyday speech, however, it is commonly used for serious non-fatal shocks, and this looser sense is well established in dictionaries. The word carries strongly negative connotations of danger and accidental harm.
Easily confused with electrocute
"Execute" means to carry out a plan or put someone to death, while "electrocute" specifically means to kill or injure by electric shock.