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Electrocution of a condemned criminal as a means of execution with an electric chair

Electrocution or electric shock is when electricity passes through something living. It happens when the human body gets in contact with electric current. The word "electrocution" originated as a portmanteau between electricity and execution, referring to those executed by electric chair, but has evolved to describe any fatal encounter with electricity. Nonfatal encounters are called electric shocks, or simply a "shock".