battery
UK[ˈbæt(ə)ri]US[ˈbætəri]
n
a device that is placed inside a car, clock, toy, etc. and that supplies it with electricity
n
a large number of things or people of the same type, especially things used for a particular purpose
n
a piece of equipment used to hit the ball in baseball
n
the crime of attacking someone physically
Morpheme Breakdown
batter
y
batter
to beat
y
noun suffix
Etymology
the word 'battery' entered english in the 16th century from middle french 'batterie', itself derived from the verb 'battre' meaning 'to beat'. its core semantic thread is 'beating' or 'striking'. this literal sense is preserved in legal terms like 'assault and battery' and in baseball. the meaning evolved to denote a series of artillery pieces arranged to 'beat' or bombard a target, and from this collective sense of a grouped series, it was applied in electricity to describe a series of voltaic cells grouped to produce a current. thus, the journey from physical striking to an organized array to an electrical device demonstrates a clear metaphorical extension.
Analysis
Structure: batter (to beat) + y (noun suffix)
batter (from old french 'batere', meaning 'to beat', of latin origin); y (a noun-forming suffix of old english origin, indicating a state, condition, or collection).
Examples
the remote control needs two new aa batteries.
he faced charges of assault and battery after the altercation.
the prosecutor presented a battery of evidence against the defendant.