galvanize

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to stimulate muscles by administering a shock

   Dr. Frankenstein galvanized the creation and it came to life.

2. 2
   verb

   to stimulate to action

   Galvanize the animal.

Simplified etymology

Galvanize was formed in the early 19th century from the name of the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani. It first meant to stimulate a muscle or nerve with electricity, reflecting Galvani’s experiments; its metallurgical sense referred to coating iron or steel with zinc, originally by an electrical process.

From French galvaniser, from galvanisme, named after Italian physiologist Luigi Aloisio Galvani (1737–1798). By surface analysis, galvano- + -ize.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary