What does electrolytic mean?
Electrolytic is an adjective describing anything that involves or is produced by electrolysis — the use of an electric current to drive a chemical change that would not occur spontaneously. In chemistry and industry, an electrolytic cell splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, refines metals such as copper and aluminium, and plates surfaces with chrome or gold. In electronics, the word appears most often in the phrase 'electrolytic capacitor', a component that uses a chemically conductive paste to achieve very high capacitance in a compact size; these components are ubiquitous in power supplies yet notorious for drying out and failing over time. The term derives from the same Greek root 'ēlektron' (amber) that gives us 'electric', entering scientific English in the nineteenth century alongside the study of electrochemistry. Precise and technical rather than conversational, 'electrolytic' is indispensable for anyone discussing batteries, metal refining, plating, or circuit design, and its adverbial form 'electrolytically' appears regularly in scientific writing.
Relating to, involving, or produced by electrolysis.
"Pure copper is produced by refining crude metal in an electrolytic cell."
Informal shorthand, chiefly in electronics, for an electrolytic capacitor.
"He replaced all the dried-out electrolytics on the amplifier's circuit board."
This noun use is jargon within electronics repair and hobbyist communities; it is not standard in formal writing.
Applies only to the informal noun sense referring to electrolytic capacitors; the adjective has no plural.
"Old radios often need their electrolytics replaced before they will run again."
Those cylindrical capacitors inside nearly every electronic gadget you own are 'electrolytic' — and their wet chemical guts are why old electronics fail more often than their chips ever do.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of electrolytic
The word combines 'electro-', from Greek 'ēlektron' meaning amber (the substance in which static electricity was first observed), with '-lytic', from Greek 'lyein', meaning to loosen or break down. It arose in nineteenth-century scientific English following Michael Faraday's foundational work on electrochemistry, which also gave us 'electrolysis', 'electrolyte', and 'ion'. Cognates sharing the 'ēlektron' root include 'electric', 'electron', and 'electricity'.
Related word forms
How electrolytic is actually used
A technical term used chiefly in chemistry, physics, and electronics; rare in everyday conversation. In electronics contexts, 'electrolytic' standing alone as a noun ('an electrolytic') is common shorthand for an electrolytic capacitor.
Easily confused with electrolytic
'Electrolysis' is the noun naming the process itself, while 'electrolytic' is the adjective describing anything relating to or produced by that process.
An 'electrolyte' is a substance that conducts electricity when dissolved or molten, whereas 'electrolytic' describes processes or devices involving such substances.