Electrical engineering and the grid

The twelfth entry is o neutro, and the name gives the wire its definition once it is taken apart. Latin had uter, which of two, and set ne in front of it: neuter, neither of the two. That is the whole of this conductor. A circuit offers three roles — the one that is live, the one earthed for safety, and the one that carries the current home — and the third is named by exclusion, as the one that is neither of the other two. An English reader owns the same word several times over and hears it nowhere. « Neutral » is the country that joins neither side and the gear that drives neither wheel; « neuter » is the gender that is neither masculine nor feminine; « neutron » was coined for the particle carrying neither charge. Portuguese keeps o neutro for the grammatical term as well, so the reader meets one word in two trades. What the wiring adds is the warning: a conductor named for what it is not is still the one under load, which is why O neutro nunca deve ser cortado sozinho.