generator English · revision 15134

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1646|origins=la generō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈdʒen.ər.eɪ.tə/, US /ˈdʒen.ər.eɪ.t̬ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|generātor|t=a begetter, producer]], an agent noun from the past participle stem of [[m|la|generō|t=to bring forth]] (see [[generation]]).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who begets, causes or produces: 1646 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, the 1640s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The feminine generatrix is from the 1650s.^(Etymonline) A thing that generates, especially an apparatus producing power or gas, is from 1794,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a machine producing electricity from 1879.^(Etymonline) In music the generator is the fundamental tone of a series of harmonics (1825);^(OED 1989) it has senses in geometry from 1863 and in algebra from 1894,^(OED 1989) and in computing a routine that builds programs from given parameters is from 1953.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1646 – one who begets.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1794 – a power-producing apparatus.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1825 – the fundamental tone (music).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1879 – an electric generator.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1953 – a program generator.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A machine that converts mechanical energy into [[electricity]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An apparatus for producing a gas or vapour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A circuit that produces a particular [[waveform]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(computing)'' A program that produces other programs.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A person or thing that generates something.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[turbogenerator]]

+ * [[character generator]]

+ * [[Van de Graaff generator]]

+ * [[wind generator]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[generate]]

+ * [[generation]]

+ * [[genus]]

+ * [[gender]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}