stimulus English · revision 39479

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1684, translation of T. Bonet's Guide to the Practical Physician|origins=la stimulus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * US: /ˈstɪm.jə.ləs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|stimulus|t=a goad, spur; an incentive]],^(AHD 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) first taken up in medical books written in Latin.^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) In Latin the word meant a pointed stick for driving cattle, and figuratively a sting of pain or a spur to action.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023) Its origin is doubtful:^(OED 2026) it is probably from the same base as [[m|la|stilus|t=a pointed instrument, stake]] (the source of [[stylus]] and [[style]]),^(SOED 2002)^(Webster's Third 1961)^(Etymonline) and Klein traces it to [[ine-pro|*stey-|t=pointed]].^(Klein 1966) Etymonline notes that De Vaan is unsure whether the Latin words for a goad, a stake and a plough handle really belong together.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In physiology, something that goads a sluggish organ into action, or the stimulating effect itself: both in 1684, in a translation of T. Bonet's ''Guide to the Practical Physician''.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline dates the medical use to the 1680s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word spread from medicine to general use in the 1790s, for anything that spurs a person or thing to action (1791) or quickens a process (1794).^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) In the same decade physiologists narrowed it to an agent that makes an organ or tissue react in a specific way (1793), with the related sense of the irritation of a nerve recorded from 1785.^(OED 2026) In 1894, in a translation of Wundt, psychology took it over for any change or event that excites a nerve impulse and produces a sensation or response, the ''stimulus'' of stimulus–response theory.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Weekley notes that the derived ''stimulant'' took on the sense of an alcoholic drink in the 19th century.^(Weekley 1921) The AHD also records its use for government spending meant to boost the economy.^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1684 – (physiology) something that spurs a sluggish organ; a stimulating effect.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1760 – (natural history) a sting or stinging hair, rare.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1785 – the excitation of a nerve or tissue.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1791 – anything that rouses to action or quickens a process.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1793 – an agent that provokes a specific reaction in an organ.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1894 – (psychology) an event that excites a nerve impulse.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something that rouses activity or energy; an [[incentive]] or [[spur]]: ''The new railway was a stimulus to local trade.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024)

+ # (physiology) An agent, change or condition that produces a response in an [[organism]] or one of its parts, such as a [[nerve]] or [[muscle]].^(Collins 2023)^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (psychology) A change in energy or an event that is perceived by the senses and calls forth a response.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Government spending or tax measures meant to boost [[economic]] activity.^(AHD 2024)

+ # (medicine, former use) A [[stimulant]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[interstimulus]]

+ * [[poststimulus]]

+ * [[prestimulus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stimulate]]

+ * [[stimulant]]

+ * [[stylus]]

+ * [[style]]

+ * [[instigate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The plural is ''stimuli''.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}