stimulus definition

English stimulus definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stimulus (“goad, prick”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈstɪm.jə.ləs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

stimulus (plural stimuluses or stimuli)

1. An external phenomenon that has an influence on a system, by triggering or modifying an internal phenomenon; for example, a spur or incentive that drives a person to take action or change behaviour.

   an economic stimulus

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 174:

     From the beginning of the show to the end, vanity is the sole stimulus and reward of action—vanity, that never looks beyond the present.

   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Democrats, meanwhile, point out that Republicans seem to have made a conscious decision, beginning with the stimulus, to oppose anything the president put forward, dooming any chance of renewed cooperation between the parties.

2. (physiology, psychology, medicine) Something external that elicits or influences a physiological or psychological activity or response, or that affects any of the sensory apparatuses.
   • 2002, Kim Burchiel, Surgical Management of Pain, Thieme, →ISBN, page 44:

     Even light nonpainful stimuli can provoke or exacerbate spontaneous pain; this is not limited to tactile, thermal, or vibratory stimuli, because auditory, visual, olfactory, and visceral stimuli also may be problematic.

3. (botany, entomology) A sting on the body of a plant or insect.
   • 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 15:

     Many plants, like many animals, are furnished with arms for their protection; these are either aculei, prickles […] ; or stimuli, stings, as in the nettles, which are armed with a venomous fluid for the annoyance of naked animals.

Synonyms

• (anything that may have an impact or influence): influence; impetus, impulse, spur

Derived terms

Translations

Esperanto stimulus definition

Verb

stimulus

1. conditional of stimuli

French stimulus definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stimulus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sti.my.lys/

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

Noun

stimulus m (plural stimulus or stimuli)

1. stimulus

Further reading

• “stimulus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian stimulus definition

Etymology

From Dutch stimulus, from Latin stimulus (“goad, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [stiˈmulʊs], [sə̆tiˈmulʊs]
• Hyphenation: sti‧mu‧lus

Noun

stimulus (first-person possessive stimulusku, second-person possessive stimulusmu, third-person possessive stimulusnya)

1. stimulus

   Synonym: perangsang

Derived terms

Further reading

• “stimulus” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Latin stimulus definition

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Cognate with Ancient Greek στίζω (stízō, “I mark”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsti.mu.lus/, [ˈs̠t̪ɪmʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsti.mu.lus/, [ˈst̪iːmulus]

Noun

stimulus m (genitive stimulī); second declension

1. a goad, prick
2. a sting
3. (figuratively) stimulus, incentive

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Related terms

• stimulātiō
• stimulō

Descendants

References

• “stimulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “stimulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• stimulus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• stimulus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be spurred on by ambition: stimulis gloriae concitari
    
  • to spur, urge a person on: calcaria alicui adhibere, admovere; stimulos alicui admovere
    
• “stimulus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Norwegian Bokmål stimulus definition

Etymology

From Latin.

Noun

stimulus m (definite singular stimulus, indefinite plural stimuli, definite plural stimuliene)

1. a stimulus

Usage notes

• By a 1995 spelling decision, Norsk språkråd permitted the regular plural forms stimuluser and stimulusene.^[1] These are scarcely used.

Related terms

• stimulere

References

Further reading

• “stimulus” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “stimulus” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk stimulus definition

Etymology

From Latin.

Noun

stimulus m (plural stimulusen)

1. a stimulus

Usage notes

• By a 1995 spelling decision, Norsk språkråd permitted the regular plural forms stimulusar and stimulusane.^[1] These are scarcely used.

Related terms

• stimulere

References

Further reading

• “stimulus” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “stimulus”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016