In early use: the property of amber, glass, and certain other substances of attracting lightweight objects when rubbed (cf. electric, adj. 1a)…

The stress along lines of force in a dielectric. Formerly applied also to surface density of electric charge, and until about 1882 used vaguely…

Physics. (Usually italicized.) In mathematical expressions: electric charge; a charged particle.

an electric charge regarded as concentrated in a mathematical point, without spatial extent.

U.S. colloquial. A charge or bolt, as of electricity; a beam or burst of radiation from a laser, etc.