stimulator

/ˈstɪmjəˌleɪtə/STIH-myuh-lay-tur

/ˈstɪmjəˌleɪtɚ/STIH-myuh-lay-tur

Meaninga person or thing that stimulates

Common meaning: a person or thing that stimulates (inferred)

stimula goadLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1759 · scan
atverb or adjective ending: to make, having
oragent ending: the doer, or the device that does it

Journey through time

Proto-Indo-European*stig-‘stick or pierce, to sting, prick’source
Latinstimulus, -ī‘a goad’
Englishstimulate‘to spur into activity’
Englishformed in English from stimulatestimulator‘a person or thing that stimulates (inferred)’ · today

Sources & notes

Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: a person or thing that stimulates. It can be inferred from any of: stimulate.

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from stimulate + -or (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).

Roots

stimulus, -ī Latin “a goad”

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