any unit that belongs to a system of electrical cgs units in which the electric constant is given the value of unity and is taken as a pure number
Abbreviation: ESU, e.s.u.. Compare electromagnetic unit
electrostatic unit in American English
noun
Electricity
a unit, as a statampere, in the system of electric units derived from the force of repulsion between two static charges
Abbreviation: esu, ESU
Word origin
[1855–60]This word is first recorded in the period 1855–60. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: barrage, boilerplate, output, pickup, pipeline