Added 9 October 2026
battery
/ˈbæt.(ə)ɹi/ noun
Latin root: battuō Coined: a coined word, by Benjamin Franklin Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about battery at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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A device used to power electric devices, consisting of one or more electrically connected electrochemical cells or (archaically) electrostatic cells.
alkaline battery
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Such a device that has multiple cells.
Her phone needs a new battery because its present battery no longer holds a charge well.
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The energy stored in such a device.
Her phone did not have enough battery for another phone call.
Origin
Borrowed from Middle French batterie, from Old French baterie (“action of beating”), from batre (“beat”), from Latin battuō (“beat”), from Gaulish. Doublet of batterie. By surface analysis, batter + -y. The electrical sense was coined by American polymath Benjamin Franklin by analogy with a military battery that his series of Leyden jars resembled.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)