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reactor

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
English react
Proto-Indo-European *-tōr
Proto-Italic *-tōr
Latin -tor
Latin -ātor
Old French -eorbor.
Middle English -our
▲
Latin -torlbor.
English -or
English reactor

    From react + -or.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    reactor (plural reactors)

    1. A person who responds to a suggestion, stimulation or other influence.
      Synonym: reacter
      Hyponym: respondent
      • 1983 December 31, Michael Bronski, “A Sharply Focused Film”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 24, page 17:
        Altman seees his characters as total reactors; everything they do and say is in response to their environment. They do not seem to exist with lives or qualities of their own.
      • 2023, Anne L. Grauer, “Introduction” (chapter 1), in The Routledge Handbook of Paleopathology, Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, page 7:
        Here, humans are seen as active participants in all dimensions of their lives, throughout their life course, and not simply passive reactors to the world around them.
    2. (chemistry, engineering) A structure used to contain chemical or other reactions.
      Hyponyms: bioreactor, chemical reactor
    3. (nuclear physics) A device which uses atomic energy to produce heat.
      Synonyms: nuclear reactor, atomic reactor
      Hyponyms: boiling water reactor, breeder reactor, fast reactor, fast-breeder reactor, fast-neutron reactor, fission reactor, fusion reactor, hot reactor, pebble-bed reactor, pressurized water reactor, reactor scram, saturable reactor, light water reactor
      • 1972, Robert L Pfaltzgraff, Politics and the international system:
        It limits the rights of nonweapon countries to develop an export business in civilian reactor technology.
      • 2023 July 18, Joe Middleton, “Shapps announces £157m in grants at launch of new UK nuclear body”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
        It is hoped that a competition to develop small modular reactors (SMRs) will drive billions of pounds of investment into the technology, which the government hopes will be cheaper and quicker to build than traditional large nuclear power plants.
      • 2025 March 4, John Fritze, “Supreme Court wades into decades-old impasse over how to store nuclear waste”, in CNN‎[2]:
        The second is whether the federal agency has the power to license such facilities away from reactor sites where the waste was generated. […] The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled the NRC does not have the authority to issue licenses to store nuclear fuel away from reactors.
    4. (chemistry) A chemical substance which responds to the presence of, or contact with, another substance.
    5. (electronics) An electrical component with reactance
      Hyponyms: capacitor, inductor

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Anagrams

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    Dutch

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from English reactor.

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /ˌreːˈɑk.tɔr/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: re‧ac‧tor

    Noun

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    reactor m (plural reactoren or reactors, no diminutive)

    1. atomic reactor
    2. chemical reactor

    Derived terms

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    Portuguese

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    Noun

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    reactor m (plural reactores)

    1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of reator; still used where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling

    Further reading

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    Romanian

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from French réacteur.

    Noun

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    reactor n (plural reactoare)

    1. reactor

    Declension

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    singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative-accusative reactor reactorul reactoare reactoarele
    genitive-dative reactor reactorului reactoare reactoarelor
    vocative reactorule reactoarelor

    Spanish

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    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /reaɡˈtoɾ/ [re.aɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
    • Rhymes: -oɾ
    • Syllabification: re‧ac‧tor

    Noun

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    reactor m (plural reactores)

    1. jet engine
    2. rocket engine
    3. atomic reactor
    4. chemical reactor

    Derived terms

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    Further reading

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