-ator
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QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
Origin of -ator
<Latin -ātor, originally 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)
Words nearby -ator
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for -ator
-ator
suffix forming nouns
a person or thing that performs a certain actionagitator; escalator; radiator
Word Origin for -ator
from Latin -ātor; see -ate 1 -or 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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