means Either electricity that builds up and crackles or clings without flowing, or the meaningless noise and interference that fuzzes up a signal — and, as an adjective, anything that stays put and refuses to change.

from From Greek 'statikos,' 'causing to stand, skilled at weighing,' rooted in 'histanai,' 'to make stand.' That same standing-still sense flows through 'status' and 'stable.' The electrical meaning arrived in the 18th century for charge that sits at rest rather than current that runs — and from there the word drifted to the restless hiss of an untuned radio or snowy TV, where stationary, going-nowhere noise drowns the signal.