Phrase guide

electric current

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A net unidirectional movement of electrons, or other charge carriers, caused by a potential difference.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: electrical-engineering, electromagnetism, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

Examples

  • An electric current runs through this wire.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The net charge that passes through some cross-section of a conducting material (in one direction), per unit time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: electrical-engineering, electromagnetism, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

Examples

  • SI: ampere (A)
  • CGS: esu/second (esu/s)
  • The electric current in this wire is 5 A.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a flow of electricity through a conductor

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the current was measured in amperes

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: current

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: electrical phenomenon

Narrower terms: juice, thermionic current

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

122 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 電流 /电流 (diànliú) — phenomenon
  • Danish: strøm — phenomenon
  • Danish: elektrisk strøm — phenomenon
  • Dutch: elektrische stroom — phenomenon
  • Faroese: streymur — phenomenon
  • Faroese: elektriskur streymur — phenomenon
  • Faroese: ravmagnsstreymur — phenomenon
  • Finnish: sähkövirta — phenomenon
  • Galician: corrente eléctrica — phenomenon
  • Georgian: ელექტრული დენი (elekṭruli deni) — phenomenon
  • Georgian: ელექტროდენი (elekṭrodeni) — phenomenon
  • German: elektrischer Strom — phenomenon
  • Hindi: विद्युत धारा (vidyut dhārā) — phenomenon
  • Japanese: 電流 (denryū) — phenomenon
  • Kazakh: электр тогы (élektr togy) — phenomenon
  • Korean: 전류 (jeollyu) — phenomenon
  • Latin: fluxus oneris electrici — phenomenon
  • Polish: prąd elektryczny — phenomenon
  • Russian: электри́ческий ток (elektríčeskij tok) — phenomenon
  • Spanish: corriente eléctrica — phenomenon
  • Tibetan: གློག་རྒྱུན (glog rgyun) — phenomenon
  • Ukrainian: електри́чний струм (elektrýčnyj strum) — phenomenon
  • Uyghur: توك ئېقىمى (tok ëqimi) — phenomenon
  • Albanian: rrjedhë elektrike — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Arabic: تَيَّار كَهْرَبَائِيّ (tayyār kahrabāʔiyy) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Arabic: تَيَّار كَهْرُبَائِيّ (tayyār kahrubāʔiyy) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Armenian: էլեկտրական հոսանք (ēlektrakan hosankʻ) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Azerbaijani: elektrik cərəyanı — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Belarusian: электры́чны ток (eljektrýčny tok) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Belarusian: ток (tok) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Bengali: তড়িৎ প্রবাহ (toṛit probaho) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Bulgarian: електри́чески ток (elektríčeski tok) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Bulgarian: ток (tok) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Burmese: လျှပ်စီး (hlyapci:) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Burmese: လျှပ်စီးကြောင်း (hlyapci:kraung:) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Chinese Cantonese: 電流 /电流 (din6 lau4) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Chinese: 電流 /电流 (tiān-liû) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Chinese Mandarin: 電流 /电流 (diànliú) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Czech: elektrický proud — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Czech: proud — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Danish: strømstyrke — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Danish: elektrisk strøm — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Dutch: stroomsterkte — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Dutch: elektrische stroom — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Esperanto: elektra kurento — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Estonian: elektrivool — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Finnish: sähkövirta — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • French: courant — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • French: courant électrique — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Galician: corrente eléctrica — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Georgian: დენი (deni) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Georgian: ელექტროდენი (elekṭrodeni) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Georgian: ელექტრული დენი (elekṭruli deni) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • German: elektrischer Strom — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • German: Strom — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Greek: ηλεκτρικό ρεύμα (ilektrikó révma) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Greek: ρεύμα (révma) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Hebrew: זֶרֶם חַשְׁמַלִּי (zérem khashmalí) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Hindi: विद्युत धारा (vidyut dhārā) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Hungarian: elektromos áram — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Icelandic: rafstraumur — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Indonesian: arus listrik — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Interlingua: currente — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Irish: sruth leictreach — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Italian: corrente — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Italian: corrente elettrica — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Japanese: 電流 (denryū) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Kazakh: электр тогы (élektr togy) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Khmer: ចរន្តអគ្គិសនី (caʼrɑn ʼakkisaʼnii) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Korean: 전류 (jeollyu) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Northern Kurdish: sirêma elektrîkê — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Kyrgyz: электр тогу (elektr togu) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Lao: ກະແສໄຟຟ້າ (ka sǣ fai fā) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Latvian: elektriskā strāva — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Latvian: strāva — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Lithuanian: srovė — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Lithuanian: elektros srovė — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Macedonian: електрична струја (električna struja) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Malay: arus elektrik — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Maltese: kurrent elettriku — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Mongolian: цахилгаан гүйдэл (caxilgaan güjdel) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Norwegian Bokmål: elektrisk strøm — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Pashto: برېښنايي جريان (brex̌nāyi jaryān) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Pashto: برقي جریان (barqī jaryān) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Iranian Persian: جَرِیانِ اِلِکْتْریکی (jariyân-e elektriki) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Iranian Persian: جَرَیانِ اِلِکْتْریکی (jarayân-e elektriki) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Iranian Persian: جَرِیانِ بَرْقی (jariyân-e barġi) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Iranian Persian: جَرَیانِ بَرْقی (jarayân-e barġi) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Polish: prąd — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Polish: prąd elektryczny — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Portuguese: corrente — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Portuguese: corrente elétrica — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Romanian: curent electric — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Russian: ток (tok) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Russian: электрото́к (elektrotók) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Russian: электри́ческий ток (elektríčeskij tok) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Serbo-Croatian: електрична струја — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Serbo-Croatian: električna struja — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Silesian: sztrům — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Slovak: tok — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Slovak: prúd — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Slovak: elektrický prúd — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Slovene: električni tok — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Spanish: corriente eléctrica — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Swahili: mkondo wa umeme — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Swedish: ström — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Swedish: elektrisk ström — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Tajik: ҷараёни электрикӣ (jarayon-i elektriki) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Tajik: ҷараёни электрӣ (jarayon-i elektri) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Tajik: ҷараёни барқӣ (jarayon-i barqi) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Tatar: электр агымы (elektr ağımı) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Thai: กระแสไฟฟ้า (grà-sɛ̌ɛ-fai-fáa) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Tibetan: གློག་རྒྱུན (glog rgyun) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Turkish: elektrik akımı — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Turkmen: elektrik togy — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Ukrainian: електри́чний струм (elektrýčnyj strum) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Ukrainian: струм (strum) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Urdu: بَرْقی رَو (barqī rau) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Uyghur: توك ئېقىمى (tok ëqimi) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Uzbek: elektr toki — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Vietnamese: dòng điện — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge
  • Yiddish: עלעקטרישער שטראָם (elektrisher shtrom) — measurement of the rate of flow of electric charge