capacitor

Meaning

Noun

• An electronic component capable of storing electrical energy in an electric field; especially one consisting of two conductors separated by a dielectric.

Origin

• capacity + -or
• Capacitor replaced the term condenser (coined by Alessandro Volta in 1782) to disambiguate it from steam condenser. The coiner is unknown but the change was recommended in 1926 by British Standard Glossary of Terms in Electrical Engineering.