accelerator

English

Etymology

• First attested in 1611.
• (motor vehicle): First attested in 1900.
• accelerate +‎ -or

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /æk.ˈsɛl.ə.ˌɹeɪ.tɚ/, /æk.ˈsɛl.ə.ˌɹeɪt.ɚ/, /ɪk.ˈsɛl.ə.ˌɹeɪt.ɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

accelerator (plural accelerators)

1. One who, or that which, accelerates.
2. A device for causing acceleration.
3. (chemistry) A substance which speeds up chemical reactions.
4. (vehicles) An accelerator pedal.
5. (photography) A chemical that reduces development time.
6. (physics) A device that accelerates charged subatomic particles.
7. (physiology, medicine) A muscle or nerve that speed the performance of an action.
8. (computing) accelerator key
   • 2002, Davis Howard Chapman, Sams Teach Yourself Visual C++ .NET in 21 Days (page 187)

     If they had allowed single-character accelerators, Windows wouldn't be able to determine whether the character was input or a shortcut.

Synonyms

• (accelerator pedal, US): gas pedal
• (accelerates subatomic particles): particle accelerator, atom smasher

Derived terms

• accelerator pedal, (automotive): a pedal used to control a vehicle's speed
• accelerator nerves, (physiology): nerves that speed up a bodily function
• accelerator card, (computers): a device that speeds up computer processing
• accelerator key, (computers): a key which a user can press to activate a menu or other element
• particle accelerator

Translations

one who, or that which, accelerates

• Bulgarian: ускорител (bg) (uskoritel)
• Finnish: kiihdyttäjä (fi)
• French: accélérateur (fr) m
• German: Beschleuniger (de) m

• Macedonian: забрзувач (mk) (zab'rzuvač) m
• Malay: pemecut (ms)
• Russian: ускоритель (ru) (uskorítel') m
• Spanish: acelerador (es) m

a device for causing acceleration

• Bulgarian: ускорител (bg) (uskoritel)
• Dutch: versneller (nl) m
• Finnish: kiihdytin (fi)
• French: accélérateur (fr) m
• German: Beschleuniger (de) m
• Interlingua: accelerator

• Macedonian: забрзувач (mk) (zab'rzuvač) m
• Malay: pemecut (ms)
• Portuguese: acelerador (pt)
• Russian: ускоритель (ru) (uskorítel') m
• Spanish: acelerador (es) m
• Swedish: accelerator (sv) c

a substance which speeds up chemical reactions

• Bulgarian: катализатор (bg) (katalizator)
• Dutch: katalysator (nl) m
• Finnish: katalyytti (fi), kiihdytin (fi)
• German: Beschleuniger (de) m, Katalysator (de) m

• Macedonian: катализатор (mk) (katalizátor) m
• Malay: pencepat (ms)
• Russian: катализатор (ru) (katalizátor) m
• Swedish: accelerator (sv) c

accelerator pedal

• Bulgarian: педал за газта (bg) (pedal za gazta)
• Dutch: gaspedaal (nl) n
• Finnish: kaasupoljin (fi)
• French: accélérateur (fr) m
• German: Gaspedal (de) n
• Hungarian: gázpedál (hu)
• Italian: acceleratore (it)

• Macedonian: педал за гас (mk) (pédal za gas) m
• Norwegian: gasspedal (no)
• Russian: педаль газа (ru) (pedál' gáza) f, газ (ru) (gaz) m, акселератор (ru) (akselerátor) m
• Spanish: acelerador (es) m, (colloquial, Chile) chala (es) f, chancla (es) f (Costa Rica), chancleta (es) f (Colombia), chola (es) f (Venezuela)
• Swedish: gaspedal (sv) c

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Latin

Verb

accelerātor

1. second-person singular future passive imperative of accelerō
2. third-person singular future passive imperative of accelerō

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Swedish

Noun

accelerator c

1. (chemistry) accelerator; a substance which speeds up chemical reactions.
2. (physics) accelerator; a device which accelerates different kinds of particles to large velocities

Declension

Declension of accelerator

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	accelerator	acceleratorn	acceleratorer	acceleratorerna
genitive	accelerators	acceleratorns	acceleratorers	acceleratorernas