energy-harvesting
|en-er-gy-har-vest-ing|
🇺🇸
/ˈɛnərdʒi ˈhɑrvəstɪŋ/
🇬🇧
/ˈɛnədʒi ˈhɑːvɪstɪŋ/
capture ambient energy
Etymology
'energy-harvesting' is a modern compound formed from 'energy' + 'harvesting'. 'energy' ultimately comes from Greek 'energeia' (via Latin and Old French), where 'energeia' meant 'activity, operation'; 'harvest' comes from Old English 'hærfest', meaning 'harvest' or 'autumn.'
'energy' passed from Greek 'energeia' into Latin/Old French forms (e.g. Middle French 'energie') and entered Middle English as 'energy'; 'harvest' evolved from Old English 'hærfest' (also meaning 'autumn' or 'the crops gathered in autumn') into Middle English 'harvest' and then modern English 'harvest'. The compound 'energy-harvesting' is a recent technical formation built from these existing words.
Originally 'energeia' referred to activity or operation and shifted to the modern sense of the capacity to do work ('energy'); 'harvest' originally denoted the season or act of gathering crops and broadened to mean 'to gather' or 'collect' (extended metaphorically to collecting energy). Over time the compound came to mean 'collecting ambient energy' in a technical context.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the process, techniques, or technologies that capture ambient energy (such as vibration, heat, light, or radio frequency) and convert it into electrical energy for powering devices or storage.
Energy-harvesting enables small sensors to run without batteries by converting ambient vibrations into electricity.
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Adjective 1
describing a device, system, or component designed to perform energy-harvesting (i.e., to collect and convert ambient energy into usable electrical power).
An energy-harvesting sensor can operate maintenance-free for years in remote locations.
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Last updated: 2025/10/24 14:19