Basic Details
Word: Edison
Part of Speech: Proper noun
Meaning: Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), the American inventor known for the phonograph, a long-lasting electric light bulb and one of the first industrial research laboratories.
How to Spell Edison
Syllables: Ed - i - son
Tricky part: There is one d and one s, with an i between them. Eddison and Edisson are the slips to watch for.
Watch out for: Eddison, Edisson, Edisen
Memory tip: Split it as Ed + i + son: a son called Ed, with a single i holding the two parts together.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Edison set up a research laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876.
Example 2: Our science project traced how Edison's phonograph recorded sound on a tin-foil cylinder.
Example 3: Many people credit Edison alone with the light bulb, but several inventors worked on it before him.
Fun Fact
Edison was granted 1,093 patents in the United States, a record that stood for many decades.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one name in the list is spelt correctly. Choose what that person is known for.
1. Farady 2. Galelio 3. Newtun 4. Edison
a) English scientist who studied electricity and magnetism
b) American inventor of the phonograph
c) Italian astronomer who studied the sky with a telescope
d) English scientist who described the laws of motion and gravity
Show answer
b) American inventor of the phonograph. Faraday has an a after the r, Newton ends in ton and Galileo has two i's; Edison is the name spelt correctly.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
As a boy, Thomas Eddison sold newspapers and sweets on trains in Michigan, and he even printed his own small newspaper in a baggage car.
a) Michigan
b) newspapers
c) Eddison
d) baggage
Show answer
c) Eddison. The inventor's name has a single d: Ed-i-son.
Mingle-Mangle
The jumbled letters in the sentence hide a name. Choose it.
The carbon-filament bulb that glowed for about thirteen hours in 1879 was the work of Thomas Alva Sonide and his team.
a) Dyson
b) Addison
c) Edison
d) Emerson
Show answer
c) Edison. The six letters make Edison; Addison and Emerson need letters the jumble lacks, and Dyson has a y.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Edison is best remembered as ____.
a) a cricketer
b) a poet
c) a painter
d) an inventor
Show answer
d) an inventor
2. In which country was Edison born?
a) Great Britain
b) Switzerland
c) the United States
d) Germany
Show answer
c) the United States
