[f. prec. + -AL.]
† 1. = ELECTRIC A. 1 a. Obs.
1635. N. Carpenter, Geog. Del., I. iii. 54. Electricall bodies drawe and attract not without rubbing and stirring vp of the matter first.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., 86. Bodies electricall, whose emissions are lesse subtile.
1744. Berkeley, Siris, § 243. 115. The phænomena of electrical bodies, the laws and variations of magnetism.
b. = ELECTRIC A. 1 b.
1813. Sir H. Davy, Agric. Chem., ii. (1814), 39. When a piece of sealing wax … gains the power of attracting light bodies … it is said to be electrical.
1813. Bakewell, Introd. Geol. (1815), 313. The smoke and vapour of volcanoes are highly electrical.
c. 1860. Faraday, Forces Nat., v. 129. It is so electrical that it will scarcely leave my hand unless to go to the other.
2. (The usual modern sense.) Relating to or connected with electricity; also, of the nature of electricity. Sometimes used in the combinations mentioned under ELECTRIC A. 2 b, in most of which, however, electric is more usual; exceptions are electrical machine, electrical eel.
1747. Wesley, Wks. (1872), II. 73. I went … to see … the Electrical experiments.
1747. Franklin, Lett., Wks. 1840, V. 182. Draw off the electrical fire. Ibid. (1748), 210. A turkey is to be killed for our dinner by the electrical shock.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., Cont. 14. No damage, except to a part of the Electrical Strap.
1802. Bingley, Anim. Biog. (1813), III. 7. The electrical gymnotus or eel.
1803. Edin. Rev., I. 195. The electrical pile.
1812. Sir H. Davy, Chem. Philos., 104. Wires for passing the electrical spark. Ibid., 129. The electrical balance of Coulomb. Ibid., 169. The electrical column, formed of zinc, Dutch leaf, and paper.
1818. Mrs. Shelley, Frankenst., i. (1865), 42. He constructed a small electrical machine.
1822. Imison, Sc. & Art, I. 463. When many of these … jars are connected together, it is called an electrical battery.
1836. Macgillivray, trans. Humboldt’s Trav., xv. 196. Electrical eels … abound in the … confluents of the Orinoco.
1845. Darwin, Voy. Nat., iii. (1876), 62. Is it not possible that the mixture of large bodies of fresh and salt water may disturb the electrical equilibrium?
1851. Carpenter, Man. Phys., 462. In … Electrical fishes, the electric organs are supplied with nerves of very great size.
Mod. Are there any electrical books in the library?
3. fig. Cf. ELECTRIC 3.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, II. i. The atmosphere becomes electrical.
1814. Scott, Wav., I. iv. 59. The electrical shock caused by the discovery.
1873. Lowell, Among my Bks., Ser. II. 315. The leaves … seem to thrill our fingers with … the flutter of his electrical nerves.
† 4. Skilled in the science of electricity. Obs. rare.
1757. E. Darwin, in Phil. Trans., L. 240. The author, having no electrical friend whose sagacity he could confide in.
