a combination of
-ate1. and
-or2. that forms
nouns corresponding to
verbs ending in
-ate1, ,denoting a human agent (
agitator; mediator; adjudicator ) or nonhuman entity, especially a machine (
incubator; regulator; vibrator ) performing the function named by the
verb.
Origin: <
Latin -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
-ate1) and a suffix
-or (see
-or2), and many new English nouns derived from English verbs based on Latin past participles (e.g.,
vibrator from
vibrate)
00:10
-ator
is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
