Where does “alternator” come from?
Alternator comes from English alternate, from Latin alterno meaning to make other or change by turns, ultimately from Latin alter meaning other and ad meaning to.
alternator (English): An electric generator which produces alternating...
Definitions
- An electric generator which produces alternating...
Ancestry of “alternator”, step by step
alternator traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English ‐or
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ‐or | Creates an agent noun, often from a verb, indicating a person or object (often machines or parts of them) that do the verb or part of speech with which they are formed |
| 2 | Middle English | -our | — |
| 3 | Old French | -eor | Alternative form of -or |
| 4 | Latin | -ator | -ator, -er; second-person singular future passive... |
| 5 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |
via English alternate
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | alternate | Happening by turns; one following the other in... |
| 2 | Latin | alternātus | alternated, vacillated |
| 3 | Latin | alternō | to do one thing and then another, do by turns, interchange, alternate |
| 4 | Latin | alternus | alternate (one after the other), successive |
| 5 | Latin | alter | the other, the second; the one...the other |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂élteros | other , second |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂el- | to grow, nourish; beyond, other; to wander, roam |