[go: up one dir, main page]
Advertisement

Origin and history of regulator

regulator(n.)

1650s, "one who regulates" in any sense, agent noun in Latin form from regulate. In English history from 1680s; in American history from 1767, applied to local posses that kept order (or disturbed it) in rural regions. From 1702 as "device for controlling machinery in motion;" the specific sense of "mechanical device or clock used to set the time of other pieces" is from 1758.

also from 1650s

Entries linking to regulator

regulate(v.)

early 15c., regulaten, "adjust by rule, method, or control," from Late Latin regulatus, past participle of regulare "to control by rule, direct," from Latin regula "rule, straight piece of wood" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," with derivatives meaning "to direct in a straight line," thus "to lead, rule").

Meaning "to govern by restriction" is from 1620s. Sense of "adjust (a clock, etc.) with reference to a standard of accuracy" is by 1660s. Related: Regulated; regulating.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    governor
    c. 1300, gouernour, "personal keeper, protector, guide;" late 14c., "one who governs, a ruler," from Old French governeor "prince, ruler, administrator; helmsman" (11c., Modern French gouverneur) and directly from Latin gubernatorem (nominative gubernator) "director, ruler, gover
    official
    early 14c., "minor ecclesiastical court officer" (mid-13c. as a surname), from Old French oficial "law officer; bishop's representative" (12c.) and directly from Late Latin officialis "attendant to a magistrate, public official," noun use of officialis (adj.) "of or belonging to
    controller
    late 14c., "official in charge of accounts in a king's household," from Anglo-French contrerolleour (late 13c.), Old French contrerelleor (Modern French contrôleur), from Medieval Latin contrarotulator, agent noun from *contra-rotulare (see control (v.)). Broader sense of "office
    escape
    c. 1300, transitive and intransitive, "free oneself from confinement; extricate oneself from trouble; get away safely by flight (from battle, an enemy, etc.)," from Old North French escaper, Old French eschaper (12c., Modern French échapper), from Vulgar Latin *excappare, literal
    faucet
    c. 1400, from Old French fausset (14c.) "breach, spigot, stopper, peg (of a barrel)," which is of unknown origin; perhaps diminutive of Latin faux, fauces "upper part of the throat, pharynx, gullet." Not in Watkins, but Barnhart, Gamillscheg, and others suggest the Old French wor
    draft
    c. 1500, a spelling variant of draught (q.v.) to reflect change in pronunciation. By the end of the 19c. it was the established form in the military, commercial, and many technical sentences, and it is now almost universal in American English as conforming to the pronunciation. T
    register
    late 14c., registre, "public record book, private account book, an official written account regularly kept," from Old French registre (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin registrum, regestrum, properly regestum, from Late Latin regesta "list, matters recorded," noun use of Lat
    peg
    "pointed pin of wood, metal, or other material," mid-15c., pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge "peg," or a similar Low German word (Low German pigge "peg," German Pegel "gauge rod, watermark," Middle Dutch pegel "little knob used as a mark," Dutch peil "gauge, watermark, standard"); o
    control
    early 15c., countrollen, "check the accuracy of, verify; regulate," from Anglo-French contreroller "exert authority," from Medieval Latin contrarotulus "a counter, register," from Latin contra "against" (see contra) + rotulus, diminutive of rota "wheel" (see roll (n.)). The word
    spigot
    late 14c., spigot, spegot, spikket, etc., "wooden plug used to stop the hole of a cask," according to Barnhart and Middle English Compendium probably from Old French *espigot (compare Gascony dialect espigot "core of a fruit, small ear of grain"), diminutive of Old Provençal espi

    Share regulator

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near regulator
    Advertisement