Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

stimulate

/ˈstɪm.jəˌleɪt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.67 in modern English

Syllables: stim-u-late
IPA: /ˈstɪm.jəˌleɪt/

11

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To encourage into action.

verb

To arouse an organism to functional activity.

Example Sentences

"stimulate the economy"
"To most others Lord Allerton's obvious preference for Mary would have been an insuperable obstacle; it only served to stimulate her ladyship."
"stimulate my mind"
"He was sexually stimulated by the dancer's moves."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)tey-? Latin stimulus Latin stimulo Latin stimulatusbor. English stimulate Borrowed from Latin stimulātus, perfect passive participle of stimulō (“to urge, goad on”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin stimulus (“a sting or prick; a stimulus, goad”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈstɪm.jəˌleɪt/
British English: /ˈstɪm.jʊ.leɪt/

Inflected Forms

stimulates (present, singular) stimulating (participle, present) stimulated (participle, past) stimulated (past)

Derived Forms

autostimulate biostimulate costimulate counterstimulate destimulate electrostimulate gravistimulate hyperstimulate immunostimulate instimulate interstimulate microstimulate

Phrases

colony-stimulating factor follicle-stimulating hormone follicle stimulating hormone granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor melanocyte-stimulating hormone self-stimulate thyroid-stimulating hormone

Frequently Paired Words

stimulant stimulation stimulator stimulatory stimulus

Synonyms

encourage induce incite provoke abet actuate goose fuel light a fire under send sting bring about

Questions

How do you pronounce stimulate?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈstɪm.jəˌleɪt/.
What does stimulate mean?: To encourage into action.
Where does stimulate come from?: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)tey-? Latin stimulus Latin stimulo Latin stimulatusbor. English stimulate Borrowed from Latin stimulātus, perfect passive participle of stimulō (“to urge, goad on”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin stimulus (“a sting or prick; a stimulus, goad”).

How to pronounce stimulate

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Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈstɪm.jəˌleɪt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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