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-ator

 - 2 dictionary results

-ator

 
Use -ator in a Sentence
a combination of -ate 1 and -or 2 that forms nouns corresponding to verbs ending in -ate1 ,denoting a human agent (agitator; mediator; adjudicator) or nonhuman entity, esp. a machine (incubator; regulator; vibrator) performing the function named by the verb.
Compare -tor, -or 2 .

Origin:
< L -ātor, orig. not a suffix, but the termination of nouns formed with -tor -tor from verbs whose stems ended in -ā-; in English, Latin loanwords ending in -ātor have been reanalyzed as derivatives of the past participles in -tus (see -ate 1 ) and a suffix -or (see -or 2 ), and many new English nouns derived from English verbs based on Latin past participles (e.g., vibrator from vibrate )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To -ator
-ator  
suff.  One that acts in a specified manner: radiator.

[Latin -ātor : -ā-, stem vowel of verbs in -āre + -tor, agent n. suff. (later reanalyzed as -ātus, -ate + -or, -or).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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