starter

See also: Starter

English

Etymology

From start + -er.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈstɑː.tə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈstɑɹ.tɚ/, [ˈstɑɹ.ɾɚ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tə(ɹ)

Noun

starter (plural starters)

1. Someone who starts, or who starts something.
   • 1982, Hugh Stephenson, Claret and Chips: The Rise of the SDP, page 158:

     The most charitable view taken of them by their colleagues was that, as late starters on the journey away from their Labour past, they had not fully understood that the SDP intended to be something new and not just a Mark II Labour Party […]

   1. The person who starts a race by firing a gun or waving a flag.
   2. (baseball) A starting pitcher.
   3. (golf) A person employed to take new players to the first tee at suitable intervals, and to provide them with caddies and equipment.
2. Something that starts something.
   1. An electric motor that starts an internal combustion engine.
   2. A device that initiates the flow of high voltage electricity in a fluorescent lamp.
   4. A yeast culture, or a medium containing one, used to start a fermentation process.

      Hypernyms: mother, sour mash

3. Something with which to begin; a first property, etc.

   It's small, but it's a good starter house.

4. The first course of a meal, consisting of a small, usually savoury, dish.

   Synonyms: entrée, hors d'oeuvre, appetizer

   Coordinate terms: main, main course, dessert

   • 2026 June 4, Sarah Phillips, “Always have a starter – and be wary of specials: restaurant critics on 14 ways to order the perfect meal”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “Starters are the best things at restaurants,” agrees Chitra Ramaswamy, the restaurant critic for the Scottish edition of the Times, who lives in Edinburgh. […] I would never go to a restaurant and not have a starter.”

5. (team sports) A player in the lineup of players that a team fields at the beginning of a game.
   • 2024 May 6, Sid Lowe, “Portu’s brilliant burst seals Girona’s top-four fairytale in the perfect way”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga wasn’t a starter at Fulham.

6. A dog that rouses game.
7. (historical, UK) A short length of rope formerly used for casual chastisement in the Navy.
8. (rail transport) Ellipsis of starter signal.
   • 1961 March, “The new Glasgow Central signalbox”, in Trains Illustrated, page 179:

     The colour-light signals admitting directly to the platforms and the inner starters (for short-length departures well up the platforms) are two-aspect, while those immediately beyond them are three-aspect, but elsewhere four-aspect signals have been installed in association with route indicators.

Derived terms

• blue starter
• bread starter
• bungstarter
• dynostarter
• firestarter
• glow starter
• heart starter
• jump starter
• new starter
• nonstarter
• non-starter
• remote starter
• self-starter
• starter battery
• starter cable
• starter castle
• starter dough
• starter home
• starter house
• starter kit
• starter marriage
• starter motor
• starter pack
• starter pistol
• starter signal
• starter strip

Translations

someone who starts something

• Bulgarian: стартер (bg) m (starter)
• Finnish: aloittaja (fi), käynnistäjä (fi)
• Māori: kaitīmata
• Portuguese: iniciador (pt) m, iniciadora (pt) f

person who starts a race

• Bulgarian: стартер (bg) m (starter)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 發令員 / 发令员 (zh) (fālìngyuán)

• Finnish: lähettäjä (fi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: starter (no) m

  Nynorsk: startar m

starting pitcher — see starting pitcher

something that starts

• Bulgarian: стартер (bg) m (starter)
• Finnish: käynnistys (fi), aloitus (fi) (act); käynnistin (device)

electric motor that starts an internal-combustion engine

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: стартер (bg) m (starter)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 起動機 / 起动机 (zh), 启动机 (qǐdòngjī), 啟動器 / 启动器 (zh) (qǐdòngqì)

• Czech: startér (cs)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: käynnistysmoottori (fi), starttimoottori (fi), startti (fi)
• French: démarreur (fr) m, starter (fr) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Anlasser (de) m, Starter (de) m
• Greek: μίζα (el) f (míza)
• Japanese: スターター (sutātā)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: startmotor m, starter (no) m

  Nynorsk: startmotor m, startar m

• Polish: rozrusznik m
• Portuguese: partida (pt) f, afogador m
• Romanian: demaror (ro) n
• Russian: ста́ртер (ru) m (stárter), стартёр (ru) m (startjór)
• Spanish: motor de arranque (es) m, estárter m, cebador (es) m (Argentina)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: marş motoru
• Vietnamese: bộ khởi động động cơ

device that initiates a fluorescent lamp

• Bulgarian: стартер (bg) m (starter)
• Finnish: sytytin (fi)
• Spanish: cebador (es) m

yeast culture

• Armenian: մակարդ (hy) (makard) (for cheese and matzoon)
• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: siemen (fi)
• Latvian: ieraugs (lv) m

something with which to begin

• Bulgarian: no equivalent term in Bulgarian, but see първоначален (părvonačalen)

first course of a meal

• Bulgarian: ордьовър m (ordjovăr), предястие n (predjastie), разядка f (razjadka)
• Catalan: entrant (ca) m, aperitiu (ca) m
• Czech: předkrm (cs)
• Danish: forret (da) c
• Dutch: voorgerecht (nl) n, voorafje (nl) n
• Finnish: alkupala (fi)
• French: hors d'œuvre (fr) m, entrée (fr) f
• Georgian: წამომწყები (c̣amomc̣q̇ebi), თავი (ka) (tavi)
• German: Vorspeise (de) f, Vorgericht n
• Greek: ορεκτικό (el) n (orektikó)
• Italian: antipasto (it) m
• Latvian: pirmais ēdiens m
• Macedonian: предјадење n (predjadenje), ордевер m (ordever)
• Māori: kumamatanga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forrett m

  Nynorsk: forrett m

• Persian: اردور (fa) (ordovr), استارتر (estârter)
• Portuguese: entradas (pt) f pl
• Russian: пе́рвое блю́до n (pérvoje bljúdo)
• Spanish: entrada (es) f, entrante (es) m
• Swedish: förrätt (sv) c, entré (sv) c, entrérätt (sv) c
• Turkish: antre (tr)

player that a team fields at the beginning of a game

• Bulgarian: титуляр (bg) m (tituljar)
• Finnish: avauspelaaja
• French: titulaire (fr) m
• Galician: titular (gl) m or f
• Portuguese: titular (pt) m or f
• Spanish: titular (es) m or f
• Swedish: startspelare c

dog that rouses game

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can

References

• “starter”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• Tarters, ratters, restart

Danish

Noun

starter c (singular definite starteren, plural indefinite startere)

1. starter

Inflection

Declension of starter

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	starter	starteren	startere	starterne
genitive	starters	starterens	starteres	starternes

Noun

starter c

1. indefinite plural of start

Verb

starter

1. present of starte

Dutch

Etymology

From starten +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɑr.tər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: star‧ter

Noun

starter m (plural starters, diminutive startertje n)

1. starter, one who starts; in particular
   1. first-time home buyer
   2. start-up

Descendants

• → Indonesian: starter

French

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English starter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /staʁ.tœʁ/

Noun

starter m (plural starters)

1. starter (person or device)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English start.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /staʁ.te/

Verb

starter

1. (North America) synonym of démarrer

Conjugation

Conjugation of starter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	starter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	startant /staʁ.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		starté /staʁ.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	starte /staʁt/	startes /staʁt/	starte /staʁt/	startons /staʁ.tɔ̃/	startez /staʁ.te/	startent /staʁt/
	imperfect	startais /staʁ.tɛ/	startais /staʁ.tɛ/	startait /staʁ.tɛ/	startions /staʁ.tjɔ̃/	startiez /staʁ.tje/	startaient /staʁ.tɛ/
	past historic2	startai /staʁ.te/	startas /staʁ.ta/	starta /staʁ.ta/	startâmes /staʁ.tam/	startâtes /staʁ.tat/	startèrent /staʁ.tɛʁ/
	future	starterai /staʁ.tə.ʁe/	starteras /staʁ.tə.ʁa/	startera /staʁ.tə.ʁa/	starterons /staʁ.tə.ʁɔ̃/	starterez /staʁ.tə.ʁe/	starteront /staʁ.tə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	starterais /staʁ.tə.ʁɛ/	starterais /staʁ.tə.ʁɛ/	starterait /staʁ.tə.ʁɛ/	starterions /staʁ.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	starteriez /staʁ.tə.ʁje/	starteraient /staʁ.tə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	starte /staʁt/	startes /staʁt/	starte /staʁt/	startions /staʁ.tjɔ̃/	startiez /staʁ.tje/	startent /staʁt/
	imperfect2	startasse /staʁ.tas/	startasses /staʁ.tas/	startât /staʁ.ta/	startassions /staʁ.ta.sjɔ̃/	startassiez /staʁ.ta.sje/	startassent /staʁ.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	starte /staʁt/	—	startons /staʁ.tɔ̃/	startez /staʁ.te/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

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

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch starter, from English starter.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈstartər/ [ˈst̪ar.t̪ər]
• Rhymes: -artər
• Syllabification: star‧ter

Noun

starter (plural starter-starter)

1. starter
   1. one who starts, or who starts something
      1. the person who starts a race by firing a gun or waving a flag.
      2. (baseball) a starting pitcher.
      3. (golf) a person employed to take new players to the first tee at suitable intervals, and to provide them with caddies and equipment.
   2. something that starts something
      1. (mechanical engineering) an electric motor that starts an internal combustion engine.

         Synonym: pemula (Malay)

      2. (electrical engineering) a device that initiates the flow of high voltage electricity in a fluorescent lamp.

         Synonym: pemula (Malay)

      3. (biology) a yeast culture, or a medium containing one, used to start a fermentation process.

Derived terms

• berstarter
• menstarter
• menstarterkan
• penstarteran

• starter elektrik
• starter engkol

Related terms

• start

Further reading

• “starter”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English starter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstar.ter/
• Rhymes: -arter
• Hyphenation: stàr‧ter

Noun

starter m or f by sense (invariable) (sports)

1. starter (person)

   Synonym: giudice di partenza (literally “start judge”)

Noun

starter m (electronics)

1. starter (“electronic device”)

   Synonym: accenditore

Noun

starter m (mechanics)

1. starter (“motor starter”)

   Synonym: arricchitore

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Noun

starter m

1. indefinite plural of start

Etymology 2

From starte +‎ -er.

Noun

starter m (definite singular starteren, indefinite plural startere, definite plural starterne)

1. a starter (person who gives a starting signal)
2. a starter (starter motor)

Synonyms

• startmotor

Etymology 3

Verb

starter

1. present tense of starte

See also

• startar (Nynorsk)

References

• “starter” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French starter.

Noun

starter n (plural starteri)

1. starter

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	starter	starterul	starteri	starterile
genitive-dative	starter	starterului	starteri	starterilor
vocative	starterule		starterilor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from English starter.

Noun

starter m inan (Cyrillic spelling стартер)

1. a device that starts an engine or a machine

   Synonym: anlaser

Swedish

Noun

starter

1. indefinite plural of start

Anagrams

• rastret, stretar