Where does “circulator” come from?
Circulator derives from Latin circulātor, an agent noun from Latin circulāre, from Latin circulus meaning circle, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- meaning to turn or bend.
circulator (English): A person or thing that causes something to...
Definitions
- A person or thing that causes something to...
Ancestry of “circulator”, step by step
circulator traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English circulate
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | circulate | to move in circles or through a circuit; to cause... |
| 2 | Latin | circulatus | rounded |
| 3 | Latin | circulō | to make circular, round, curved |
| 4 | Latin | circulus | circle; An orbit; A ring, hoop |
| 5 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
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 | — |