rectifier

[rek-tuh-fahy-er]

noun

a person or thing that rectifies.
Electricity. an apparatus in which current flows more readily in one direction than the other, for changing an alternating current into a direct current.
the apparatus that in distillation separates the most volatile material by condensing it; condenser.

Origin of rectifier

First recorded in 1605–15; rectify + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rectifier

Historical Examples of rectifier

This rectifier will do the work of two of the ten battery Tungars.
The Automobile Storage Battery
O. A. Witte
Filtration still remains the best and simplest adjunct to the rectifier.
A Practical Handbook on the Distillation of Alcohol from Farm Products
F. B. Wright
The disacidification, before entering the rectifier, is effected by the metallic zinc.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 415, December 15, 1883
Various
The manufacture of liqueurs constitutes the trade of the compounder, rectifier, or liquoriste.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley
The wash is pumped from the wash charger into the worm-tub, which passes from top to bottom of the rectifier.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for rectifier

rectifier

noun

an electronic device, such as a semiconductor diode or valve, that converts an alternating current to a direct current by suppression or inversion of alternate half cycles
chem an apparatus for condensing a hot vapour to a liquid in distillation; condenser
a thing or person that rectifies

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rectifier

1610s, agent noun from rectify.

rectifier in Science

rectifier

[rĕk′tə-fī′ər]

An electrical device that converts alternating current to direct current. Rectifiers are most often made of a combination of diodes, which allow current to pass in one direction only. Compare converter transformer.