Standard Lemma guide

negawatt

noun · 1 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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  • UK: /ˈnɛɡ.ə.wɒt/
  • US: /ˈnɛɡ.ə.wɑt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A unit of saved energy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Coined by Amory Lovins, chairman of the Rocky Mountain Institute as a contraction of negative watt on the model of similar compounds like megawatt, by surface analysis, nega- + watt. Lovins credited the term to a typo in a document by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in which the word "megawatt" was misspelled.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: negawatti — "negative watt"