‘电钟’ (diàn zhōng) literally means ‘electric clock’ — a clock powered by electricity, as opposed to mechanical or wind-up clocks. The character 电 (diàn) means ‘electricity’, and 钟 (zhōng) means ‘clock’ or ‘bell’ (historically, clocks were bell-based timekeeping devices). Together, they refer specifically to electrically operated timepieces, including wall clocks, desk clocks, or older analog clocks that run on batteries or AC power.

While modern digital clocks and smart devices are often called 电子钟 (diànzǐ zhōng, ‘electronic clock’) or simply 时钟 (shízhōng, ‘clock’), 电钟 is still used in formal contexts, technical descriptions, or when distinguishing power sources — for example, in school laboratories, railway stations, or historical discussions of timekeeping technology. It carries a slightly technical or retro connotation and is less common in casual daily speech than the more general term 时钟.