generator

See also: generátor and Generator

English

Etymology

From Latin, from past participle of genero (“beget, father”), equivalent to generate +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɛnəɹeɪtə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

generator (plural generators)

1. One who, or that which, generates, begets, causes, or produces.
   1. (chemistry) An apparatus in which vapour or gas is formed from a liquid or solid by means of heat or chemical process, as a steam boiler, gas retort etc.
   2. (music) The principal sound or sounds by which others are produced; the fundamental note or root of the common chord; -- see also generating tone.
   3. (music) An interval that is repeatedly stacked to obtain other pitches in tuning systems or scales.
   4. (mathematics) An element of a group that is used in the presentation of the group: one of the elements from which the others can be inferred with the given relators.
   5. (geometry) One of the lines of a ruled surface; more generally, an element of some family of linear spaces.
   6. (programming) A subordinate piece of code which, given some initial parameters, will generate multiple output values on request.

      Synonym: semicoroutine

      • 2016, Paul Barry, Head First Python: A Brain-Friendly Guide, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 508:

        When you come across something that looks like a listcomp but is surrounded by parentheses, you're looking at a generator: […]

2. A piece of apparatus, equipment, etc, to convert or change energy from one form to another.
   1. Especially, a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.
      • 1958 August, T. S. Lascelles, “Diamond Jubilee of the Waterloo & City Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 523:

        In 1915, concurrent with the L.S.W.R. electrification, power was supplied from the Waterloo sub-station, and the old equipment held in reserve. Some generator sets were removed, and motor generators installed for standby lighting and other services.

      • 1962 December, “The Oxted Line diesel-electric multiple-units”, in Modern Railways, page 383:

        Heating in the passenger sections is by electricity obtained from the main generator. When heating is dictated by the operation of a thermostat in the roof of the motor coach, engine idling speed is 600 r.p.m. instead of the normal 450 r.p.m. in order to produce a high enough generator voltage output at rest.

      • 2009 October 2, John Vidal, “'Tilting at windmills: the boy who harnessed the wind'”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 October 2026:

        Using a tractor fan, shock absorbers, PVC pipes, a bicycle frame and anything else he could lay his hands on, he then built a rudimentary wooden tower, plonked his home-made generator on the top, and eventually got one, and then four bulbs to light up.

      • 2010, Taiwan: Recent Economic and Political Developments Yearbook‎^[2], International Business Publications, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 130:

        WIND
        Since 2001, Taipower has installed eight wind-powered generators on Penghu, and in 2004 the main island's first commercial wind farm — located in Shihmen Township, Taipei County, and built by Taipower — went online.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “one which generates”): extinguisher

Derived terms

• aerogenerator
• autogenerator
• character generator
• chemical oxygen generator
• clock generator
• Cockcroft-Walton generator
• cogenerator
• CW generator
• diesel generator
• economic scenario generator
• engine generator, engine-generator
• finite generator
• function generator
• gas generator
• hydroelectric generator
• Kipp generator
• linear congruential generator
• Marx generator
• microgenerator
• nanogenerator
• pseudorandom number generator, pseudo-random number generator
• random number generator
• solar generator
• starch generator
• steam generator
• traffic generator
• turbogenerator, turbo-generator
• Van de Graaff generator
• vortex generator
• wind generator

Translations

mathematics: an element of a group that is used in the presentation of the group

• Bulgarian: генера́тор m (generátor)
• Finnish: virittäjä (fi)
• Greek: γεννήτορας (el) m (gennítoras)
• Icelandic: spönnuður m
• Irish: gineadóir m

apparatus: electrical generator

• Albanian: gjenerator (sq) m
• Arabic: مُوَلِّد m (muwallid), مُوَلِّد كَهْرَبَائِيّ m (muwallid kahrabāʔiyy)
• Armenian: գեներատոր (hy) (generator)
• Azerbaijani: generator
• Belarusian: генера́тар m (hjenjerátar), генэра́тар m (hjenerátar)
• Bengali: জেনারেটর (jenareṭor), উৎপাদনযন্ত্র (utpadnojontro)
• Bulgarian: генера́тор m (generátor)
• Burmese: ဂျင်နရေတာ (my) (gyangna.reta), မီးစက် (my) (mi:cak)
• Catalan: generador m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 發電機 / 发电机 (faat³ din⁶ gei¹)

  Mandarin: 發電機 / 发电机 (zh) (fādiànjī)

• Czech: generátor (cs) m
• Danish: generator c
• Dutch: generator (nl) m
• Esperanto: generatoro (eo), generilo
• Estonian: generaator, elektrigeneraator
• Finnish: generaattori (fi), sähkögeneraattori (fi)
• French: générateur (fr) m, générateur électrique m
• Galician: xerador (gl) m
• Georgian: გენერატორი (generaṭori)
• German: Generator (de) m
• Greek: γεννήτρια (el) f (gennítria)
• Hebrew: מְחוֹלֵל (he) m (mekholél), גֵּנֵרָטוֹר (he) m (generátor)
• Hindi: जनित्र (hi) m (janitra), जनरेटर m (janreṭar)
• Hungarian: generátor (hu), aggregátor (hu)
• Icelandic: rafall m, rafali m
• Indonesian: pembangkit (id), pembangkit listrik, generator (id)
• Irish: gineadóir m
• Italian: generatore (it) m
• Japanese: 発電機 (ja) (はつで​んき, hatsudenki)
• Kazakh: генератор (generator)
• Khmer: ម៉ាស៊ីនភ្លើង (maasɨn phləəng)
• Korean: 발전기(發電機) (ko) (baljeon'gi)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: jenerator (ku)

• Kyrgyz: генератор (ky) (generator)
• Lao: ເຄື່ອງກຳເນີດໄຟຟ້າ (khư̄ang kam nœ̄t fai fā)
• Latvian: ģenerators m
• Lithuanian: generatorius m
• Macedonian: генера́тор m (generátor)
• Malay: penjana (ms)
• Māori: mīhini-huri-hiko, pukuhiko
• Marathi: विद्युतजनित्र n (vidyutajnitra), जनित्र n (janitra), जनरेटर (mr) m (janreṭar)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: үүсгүүр (mn) (üüsgüür), генератор (generator)

• Navajo: atsiniltłʼish ííłʼínígíí
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: generator m

  Nynorsk: generator m

• Pashto: مولد m (moaled)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: مُوَلِّد (fa) (movalled), ژِنِراتور (fa) (ženerâtor)

• Polish: prądnica (pl) f, generator (pl) m
• Portuguese: gerador (pt) m
• Romanian: generator (ro) m or n
• Russian: генера́тор (ru) m (generátor)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: генѐра̄тор m

  Latin: genèrātor (sh) m

• Slovak: generátor m
• Slovene: generator m
• Spanish: generador (es) m, generador eléctrico m
• Swahili: jenereta (sw)
• Swedish: generator (sv) c
• Tajik: генератор (generator), муваллид (muvallid)
• Thai: เครื่องกำเนิดไฟฟ้า (krʉ̂ʉang-gam-nə̀ət-fai-fáa), เครื่องปั่นไฟ (krʉ̂ʉang-bpàn-fai)
• Turkish: jeneratör (tr), üreteç (tr)
• Turkmen: generator
• Ukrainian: генера́тор m (henerátor)
• Urdu: مُوَلِّد m (muvallid), جَنْریٹَر m (janreṭar)
• Uyghur: گېنېراتور (gënërator)
• Uzbek: generator (uz)
• Vietnamese: máy phát điện (vi)
• Welsh: generadur m
• Zhuang: fazdengih

in programming

• Bulgarian: генера́тор m (generátor)
• Polish: generator (pl) m
• Russian: генера́тор (ru) m (generátor)

Azerbaijani

Other scripts

Cyrillic		ҝенератор
Arabic

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian генера́тор (generátor).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɟeneˈɾɑtoɾ], [ɟ͡ʝeneˈɾɑtoɾ]

Noun

generator (definite accusative generatoru, plural generatorlar)

1. (electricity) generator (machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy)

Declension

Declension of generator

	singular	plural
nominative	generator	generatorlar
definite accusative	generatoru	generatorları
dative	generatora	generatorlara
locative	generatorda	generatorlarda
ablative	generatordan	generatorlardan
definite genitive	generatorun	generatorların

Possessive forms of generator

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	generatorum	generatorlarım
sənin (“your”)	generatorun	generatorların
onun (“his/her/its”)	generatoru	generatorları
bizim (“our”)	generatorumuz	generatorlarımız
sizin (“your”)	generatorunuz	generatorlarınız
onların (“their”)	generatoru or generatorları	generatorları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	generatorumu	generatorlarımı
sənin (“your”)	generatorunu	generatorlarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	generatorunu	generatorlarını
bizim (“our”)	generatorumuzu	generatorlarımızı
sizin (“your”)	generatorunuzu	generatorlarınızı
onların (“their”)	generatorunu or generatorlarını	generatorlarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	generatoruma	generatorlarıma
sənin (“your”)	generatoruna	generatorlarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	generatoruna	generatorlarına
bizim (“our”)	generatorumuza	generatorlarımıza
sizin (“your”)	generatorunuza	generatorlarınıza
onların (“their”)	generatoruna or generatorlarına	generatorlarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	generatorumda	generatorlarımda
sənin (“your”)	generatorunda	generatorlarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	generatorunda	generatorlarında
bizim (“our”)	generatorumuzda	generatorlarımızda
sizin (“your”)	generatorunuzda	generatorlarınızda
onların (“their”)	generatorunda or generatorlarında	generatorlarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	generatorumdan	generatorlarımdan
sənin (“your”)	generatorundan	generatorlarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	generatorundan	generatorlarından
bizim (“our”)	generatorumuzdan	generatorlarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	generatorunuzdan	generatorlarınızdan
onların (“their”)	generatorundan or generatorlarından	generatorlarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	generatorumun	generatorlarımın
sənin (“your”)	generatorunun	generatorlarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	generatorunun	generatorlarının
bizim (“our”)	generatorumuzun	generatorlarımızın
sizin (“your”)	generatorunuzun	generatorlarınızın
onların (“their”)	generatorunun or generatorlarının	generatorlarının

Further reading

• Orucov, Əliheydər, editor (2006), “generator”, in Azərbaycan dilinin izahlı lüğəti [Explanatory Dictionary of the Azerbaijani Language]‎^[3] (in Azerbaijani), 2nd edition, volume 2, Baku: Şərq-Qərb, page 218
• Altun Kitab (2013–), “generator”, in Azleks

Danish

Etymology

From Latin generare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡenəˈʁɑːtʌ/, /ɡɛnəˈʁɑːtʌ/

Noun

generator c (singular definite generatoren, plural indefinite generatorer)

1. generator (one that generates)
2. (electricity) generator (machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy)

Declension

Declension of generator

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	generator	generatoren	generatorer	generatorerne
genitive	generators	generatorens	generatorers	generatorernes

References

• “generator” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin generare.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

generator m (plural generatoren or generators, diminutive generatortje n)

1. generator (one that generates)
2. (electricity) generator (machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy)

References

• “generator” in Van Dale Onlinewoordenboek, Van Dale Lexicografie, 2007.
• Matthias de Vries; Lambert Allard te Winkel (1864), “generator”, in Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, published 2001

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch generator, from Latin generātor, genero (“beget, father”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ɡenəˈrator/ [ɡe.nəˈra.t̪ɔr]
• Rhymes: -ator
• Syllabification: ge‧ne‧ra‧tor

Noun

génêrator (plural generator-generator)

1. (electricity) generator

Synonyms

• penjana (Standard Malay)

Derived terms

• generator asetilena
• generator gas

Further reading

• “generator”, 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

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɡɛ.nɛˈraː.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒe.neˈraː.tor]

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os

Proto-Italic *genos

Latin genus

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin generō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin generātor

From generō (“bring to life, beget, generate, produce”) + -tor (masculine agentive suffix).

Noun

generātor m (genitive generātōris, feminine generātrīx); third declension

1. begetter, producer, generator, engenderer

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	generātor	generātōrēs
genitive	generātōris	generātōrum
dative	generātōrī	generātōribus
accusative	generātōrem	generātōrēs
ablative	generātōre	generātōribus
vocative	generātor	generātōrēs

Etymology 2

Inflected form of generō (“bring to life, beget, generate, produce”).

Verb

generātor

1. second/third-person singular future passive imperative of generō

References

• “generator”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• generator in Georges, Karl Ernst; Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 1, Hahnsche Buchhandlung
• “generator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “generator”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin generare.

Noun

generator m (definite singular generatoren, indefinite plural generatorer, definite plural generatorene)

1. a generator

Derived terms

• vindgenerator

References

• “generator” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin generare.

Noun

generator m (definite singular generatoren, indefinite plural generatorar, definite plural generatorane)

1. a generator

Derived terms

• vindgenerator

References

• “generator” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Internationalism; compare English generator, French générateur, German Generator, ultimately from Latin generātor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛ.nɛˈra.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atɔr
• Syllabification: ge‧ne‧ra‧tor

Noun

generator m inan (related adjective generatorowy)

1. (electricity) electric generator, generator (device that converts motion-based power (potential and kinetic energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit)

   Synonym: prądnica

2. (programming) generator (subordinate piece of code which, given some initial parameters, will generate multiple output values on request)
3. (literary) generator (that which, generates, begets, causes, or produces social phenomena)

Declension

Declension of generator

	singular	plural
nominative	generator	generatory
genitive	generatora	generatorów
dative	generatorowi	generatorom
accusative	generator	generatory
instrumental	generatorem	generatorami
locative	generatorze	generatorach
vocative	generatorze	generatory

Further reading

• “generator”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “generator”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[5] (in Polish)
• generator in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

French générateurbor.

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os

Proto-Italic *genos

Latin genus

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin generō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin generatorlbor.

Romanian generator

Borrowed from French générateur, or a learned borrowing from Latin generator. By surface analysis, genera + -tor.

Adjective

generator m or n (feminine singular generatoare, masculine plural generatori, feminine/neuter plural generatoare)

1. generator

Declension

Declension of generator

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	generator		generatoare	generatori	generatoare
	definite	generatorul		generatoarea	generatorii	generatoarele
genitive- dative	indefinite	generator		generatoare	generatori	generatoare
	definite	generatorului		generatoarei	generatorilor	generatoarelor

Noun

generator n (plural generatoare)

1. generator

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	generator	generatorul	generatoare	generatoarele
genitive-dative	generator	generatorului	generatoare	generatoarelor
vocative	generatorule		generatoarelor

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin generare.

Noun

generator c

1. a generator

Declension

Declension of generator

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	generator	generators
	definite	generatorn	generatorns
plural	indefinite	generatorer	generatorers
	definite	generatorerna	generatorernas

References

• “generator”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “generator”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “generator”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)