accelerator

Etymology

It is formed from English accelerate + -or.^[2][3][4] The OED takes it as first formed with the suffix -er, perhaps after French accélérateur, which Cotgrave recorded in 1611 as a noun and as an adjective for a kind of muscle, and later reinforced by the post-classical Latin noun accelerator (“one who makes haste”), recorded from 1552 or earlier and as the name of a muscle from 1618.^[5] Etymonline derives the English word directly from the Latin agent noun.^[6] The Latin word is formed from accelerātus, the past participle of accelerō (“to hasten, quicken”), and the agent suffix -or;^[5][6] the verb is from ad- (“to”) and celerō (“to hasten”), from celer (“swift”),^[6] which Etymonline traces perhaps to Proto-Indo-European *keli- (“speeding”).^[6] The OED compares Spanish acelerador, recorded from 1548.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person or thing that speeds something up: 1611, in Cotgrave's French–English dictionary.^[5][2] Etymonline glosses the word of the 1610s as "a hastener".^[6]

Semantic evolution

From 1638 the word named a muscle that speeds up a bodily process, at first a muscle of the penis,^[5] and Merriam-Webster still lists a muscle or nerve that speeds the performance of an action.^[7][2] In the 19th century it named vehicles meant to speed travel: an early bicycle, the dandy-horse (1819), and a light vehicle carrying postmen (1861), both now historical.^[5] Photographers used it for a substance that speeds development from 1843,^[5] or 1858 in the first edition of the OED,^[8] and chemists for a substance that speeds a reaction from 1864.^[5] The motoring sense, the pedal that controls the engine's speed, dates from 1900,^[5][6] and the particle physics sense from 1914 in the OED^[5] or 1931 in Etymonline;^[6] Collins notes that atom smasher is a non-technical name for such a machine.^[9] The American Heritage Dictionary now also records a business sense, an organization that supports new companies for a few months in exchange for equity.^[10] American slang has used accelerator for an amphetamine tablet and for an arsonist.^[11]

Timeline

• 1611 – a person or thing that accelerates something (Cotgrave).^[5]
• 1638 – a muscle that speeds up a bodily process.^[5]
• 1819 – an early form of bicycle, the dandy-horse.^[5]
• 1843 – in photography, a substance that speeds development.^[5]
• 1861 – a light vehicle for carrying postmen.^[5]
• 1864 – in chemistry, a substance that speeds a reaction.^[5]
• 1900 – the pedal controlling the speed of a motor vehicle's engine.^[5][6]
• 1914 – in physics, an apparatus that gives subatomic particles high energies.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pedal or other device that controls the speed of a vehicle's engine; the gas pedal or throttle.^[9][10][5]
2. (physics) A machine that gives subatomic particles or nuclei high energies by means of electric or electromagnetic fields; a particle accelerator.^[9][10][5]
3. (chemistry) A substance that speeds up a reaction, such as the vulcanization of rubber or the developing of a photograph.^[9][10][5]
4. (anatomy) A muscle or nerve that speeds up a bodily action.^[2][7][5]
5. Something or someone that makes a process happen faster: Cheap credit acted as an accelerator for the housing boom.^[2][5]
6. (business) An organization that gives new businesses mentoring, funding and other support for a short period in exchange for equity.^[10]

Word family

• cardioaccelerator
• particle accelerator

Related words

• accelerate
• acceleration
• celerity
• decelerate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge