stimulusn.
/ˈstɪmjᵿləs/, /ˈstɪmjʊləs/, U.S. /ˈstɪmjələs/ 1.
a. Physiology. Something that acts as a ‘goad’ or ‘spur’ to a languid bodily organ; an agency or influence that stimulates, increases, or quickens organic activity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > types of treatment generally > [noun] > stimulation > stimulus
stimulator1614
stimulus1684
1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician xix. 694/2 The Indian Chocolad..both increases Seed and adds a stimulus.
1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 276 By weakening the Force of any Stimulus.
1750 J. Theobald App. Medulla Med. Univ. 55 In all Cases where the Nerves want a Stimulus to help them to perform their destined Offices.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. viii. 210 One of those unfortunate persons, who, being once stirred with the vinous stimulus, do not fall asleep like other drunkards, but remain long partially influenced by it.
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. x. 115 An attack of pneumonia, coming on in fever, frequently acts as a stimulus to the economy.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 68 The physician..would tell us that you cannot restore strength by a stimulus.
b. Stimulating property, action, or effect; stimulation or quickening of organic activity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > types of treatment generally > [noun] > stimulation
stimulus1684
stimulation1733
1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician xix. 695/1 That..such Medicines be made use of as comfort the vital faculty, and yet have a gentle Stimulus withal.
1759 E. Wright in Philos. Trans. 1758 (Royal Soc.) 50 598 This salt is not only astringent, and consequently a strengthener, but at the same time acts with a gentle stimulus.
1785 W. Paley Moral & Polit. Philos. (1818) II. iv. ii. 13 As the liquor loses its stimulus, the dose must be increased.
1841 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 3) ii. iv. 292 They are less stimulating... Indeed, from this very want of stimulus, they are apt to disagree with weak stomachs, unless seasoned.
1847 W. C. L. Martin Ox 178/2 Common salt as an aperient often acts well..perhaps from the stimulus it gives to the stomach.
1861 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (new ed.) 73 It is not a sleeping dose he wants, but food or stimulus.
2.
a. gen. An agency or influence that stimulates to action or (const. to) that quickens an activity or process.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > refreshment or invigoration > [noun] > that which or one who refreshes or invigorates
spice?c1225
comfort1377
refresherc1450
refreshment1532
reviver1542
sauce1561
salt1579
refocillation1608
whettera1625
fillip1699
stimulant1728
stimulation1733
yeast1769
stimulus1791
inspiriter1821
stimulatory1821
refreshener1824
boost1825
bracer1826
young blood1830
freshener1838
invigoratorc1842
blow1849
tonic1849
elevation1850
stimulator1851
breather1876
pick-me-up1876
a shot in the arm1922
the mind > will > motivation > [noun] > incitement or instigation > that which incites or instigates
prickleOE
pritchOE
alighting1340
brodc1375
bellowsc1386
pricka1387
motivec1390
prompting1402
preparativec1450
stirmentc1460
incentive?a1475
fomenta1500
farda1522
instigation1526
pointing1533
swinge1548
spur1551
whetstone1551
goad1567
promptitude1578
alarm1587
inducement1593
solicitor1594
incitement1596
inflammation1597
instance1597
excitement1604
moving spirit1604
heart-blood1606
inflamer1609
rouser1611
stimulator1614
motioner1616
incensivea1618
incitative1620
incitation1622
whettera1625
impulsivea1628
excitation1628
incendiary1628
dispositive1629
fomentationa1631
switch1630
stirrer1632
irritament1634
provocative1638
impetus1641
driving force1642
driving power1642
engagement1642
firer1653
propellant1654
fomentary1657
impulse1660
urgency1664
impeller1686
fillip1699
shove1724
incitive1736
stimulative1747
bonus1787
stimulus1791
impellent1793
stimulant1794
propulsion1800
instigant1833
propulsive1834
motive power1836
evoker1845
motivity1857
afflatus1865
flip1881
urge1882
agent provocateur1888
will to power1896
a shot in the arm1922
motivator1929
driver1971
co-driver1993
1791 W. Enfield Brucker's Hist. Philos. II. i. 18 Among the philosophical works of Cicero, we do not now find his Hortentius,..which Augustine confesses operated upon his mind, as a powerful stimulus to the pursuit of wisdom.
1793 Brit. Critic II. 362 We should expect even the voluntary productions of the pen, without this violent stimulus, to be sufficient to support the honour of the society.
1803 W. Windham Speeches Parl. (1812) II. 154 Measures so chosen.., as to become a powerful stimulus to recruiting.
1830 M. R. Mitford Our Village IV. 80 (note) A person of great..talent, who,..if she were prompted by either of those two powerful stimuli, want of money or want of admiration, to take due pains—would..become a clever writer.
1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. i. 12 There is no stimulus to improvement like fair competition.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. xv. 241 The ship..reminded me of a goaded and fiery horse, mad with the stimulus applied.
1863 H. Fawcett Man. Polit. Econ. i. v. 71 Gold may have been the primary stimulus of her [sc. Australia's] prosperity.
1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. viii. 194 The needs of defence and attack were the chief stimuli to the cultivation of arts.
b. A quickening impulse; also, in generalized sense, quickening influence, stimulation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > [noun] > incitement or instigation > quickening impulse
stimulus1794
1794 Brit. Critic III. 518 Those young Academicans..will receive from the perusal of his book a powerful stimulus to their ambition.
1833 H. Martineau Messrs. Vanderput & Snoek vi. 99 The turn of exchange had given such a stimulus to importation.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. i. 1 Do you expect passion, and stimulus, and melodrama?
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xviii. 189 Their health improved under the stimulus of a new mode of life.
1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. vii. 222 They become..a source of stimulus and progress for all of us.
1911 T. B. Kilpatrick New Test. Evangelism iii. 76 These questions will come to him with rebuke and stimulus.
3. in extended use.1851 J. S. Mill Enfranch. Women in Diss. & Disc. (1859) II. 438 What makes intelligent beings is the power of thought; the stimuli which call forth that power are the interest and dignity of thought itself.
a. Physiology. Something that excites an organ or tissue to a specific activity or function; a material agency that produces a reaction in an organism.Developed from the older physiological sense 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > stimulation > [noun] > stimulus
stimulus1793
irritant1802
stimulant1880
cue1931
zeitgeber1958
1793 T. Beddoes Observ. Nature & Cure Calculus 191 Those stimuli which..act continually more or less upon the irritable fibre, are, heat, light, nourishment, air, the circulation of the blood, the stimulus of generation, and the nervous stimuli.
1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 224 Life is that energy, or attribute, of organized structures which renders them capable of receiving and of obeying the impulse of stimuli.
1844 W. B. Carpenter Animal Physiol. i. 19 Muscles..are composed of a tissue which has the power of contracting suddenly and forcibly, when peculiar stimuli are applied to it.
1880 C. Darwin & F. Darwin Power of Movement in Plants 4 The tip is sensitive to various stimuli, especially to very slight pressure.
1900 W. S. Hall Text-bk. Physiol. 52 Stimuli classified. The following forms of energy act as stimuli for most cells: (i) Heat, (ii) Light, (iii) Electricity, (iv) Mechanical Stimuli, (v) Chemical Stimuli.
b. Influence or effect in calling forth some specific reaction of a tissue; irritation of a nerve or other sensitive structure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > stimulation > [noun]
stimulation1733
stimulus1785
irritation1794
excitation1862
restimulation1866
1785 W. Cullen Inst. Med. (ed. 3) i. 73 The force of contraction, or the vigour of muscular fibres, will be always as the force of stimulus, and the vigour of the animal, nervous, and inherent powers taken together.
1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 327 Rest, which they thus obtain after having been exposed throughout the day to the stimulus of light.
1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 181/2 The infusion of tobacco, and hydrocyanic acid, appear to destroy completely the sensibility of the heart, so that it no longer responds to the stimulus of the blood.
1872 T. H. Huxley Lessons Elem. Physiol. (ed. 6) viii. 187 The great majority..of the movements of the body..are the effect of an influence (technically termed a stimulus or irritation) applied..to the ends of afferent nerves.
1883 W. H. Gaskell in Jrnl. Physiol. 4 67 Since then the ventricle does not contract after the auricle because separate stimuli pass from the sinus to the ventricle along nerve fibres, but does contract [etc.].
1900 W. S. Hall Text-bk. Physiol. 75 The following laws of electrical response may be formulated: Law I. The make stimulus is kathodic; the break stimulus is anodic.
c. Psychology. Any specific change in physical energy or an event (whether internal or external to the organism) which excites a nerve impulse and gives rise to a reaction.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > stimulus-response > stimulus > [noun]
stimulus1894
releaser1935
input1954
1894 J. E. Creighton & E. B. Titchener tr. W. M. Wundt Lect. Human & Animal Psychol. 16 The processes of motion which, by their operation upon our senses, give rise to sensations, we commonly denominate stimuli, or more particularly sense-stimuli... Thus we regard the sound-waves of the air or the light-waves set up in surrounding space as stimuli corresponding to our sensations of sound and light.
1919 J. B. Watson Psychol. i. 9 The goal of psychological study is the ascertaining of such data and laws that, given the stimulus, psychology can predict what the response will be; or..given the response, it can specify the nature of the effective stimulus.
1957 E. R. Hilgard Introd. Psychol. (ed. 2) 596/1 Stimulus, some specific physical energy impinging on a receptor sensitive to that kind of energy... Any objectively describable situation or event..that is the occasion for an organism's response.
1980 E. L. Deci in E. Staub Personality ii. 43 People do not respond to objective external stimuli; they respond to stimuli as they perceive them.
4. Natural History. A sting, a stinging hair. rare (? only as Latin).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > hair or bristle > [noun] > stinging hair
sting1567
stimulus1760
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. iii. xviii. 208 Stimuli, Stings, keep off naked Animals by their venomous Punctures.
1764 J. Berkenhout Clavis Anglica Linguæ Bot. Stimuli, stings: a species of Arma growing upon some plants for their defence... Linnæus divides the stimuli into pungentes and urentes.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 84 Stimuli, stings.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1100/2.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Stimulus. 6. In entom., a stinging-hair.
Compounds
C1. General attributive. (In sense 3c.)
stimulus-complex n.
ΚΠ
1924 R. M. Ogden tr. K. Koffka Growth of Mind 87 Fine differences in the stimulus-complex may lead to opposite reactions.
1954 W. H. Melching in E. L. Wilkes Secondary Reinforcement (1966) ii. ii. 143 The presence (or absence) of the buzzer during conditioning and extinction was assumed to be an important component of the stimulus complexes.
stimulus control n.
ΚΠ
1956 Psychol. Monogr. LXX. v. 2/2 A method which involved a greater degree of stimulus control than has usually been achieved in research on discrimination.
1979 H. K. Rodewald (title) Stimulus control of behavior.
stimulus-error n.
ΚΠ
1909 E. B. Titchener Text-bk. Psychol. I. §66.218 The observer tends to judge, not in terms of sensation, but in terms of stimulus... This error,..is known technically as the stimulus error.
1949 Mind 58 452 The Stimulus-error and the Constancy Hypothesis are particular forms of this fallacy.
stimulus intensity n.
ΚΠ
1909 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 20 4 A progression of stimulus intensities such that the differences of corresponding sensation between any consecutive pairs are equal to one another.
1933 Psychol. Abstr. 7 538/1 The relationship between stimulus intensity and duration in the motor nerve of the frog.
stimulus-object n.
ΚΠ
1921 Psychol. Rev. 28 398 The dependence of a stimulus-object upon its setting is especially familiar in the case of contrasting colors or objects.
1970 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. Apr. 151 The strength with which an unfamiliar stimulus-object elicits a particular mediational process.
stimulus-pattern n.
ΚΠ
1924 R. M. Ogden tr. K. Koffka Growth of Mind iii. 137 The phenomenon corresponding to a given stimulus-pattern.
1950 Mind 59 187 A red shape presents a stimulus pattern that I react to immediately.
stimulus-situation n.
ΚΠ
1923 C. K. Ogden & I. A. Richards Meaning of Meaning iii. 139 The excitation of part of an engram complex, which is called up by a stimulus..similar to a part only of the original stimulus-situation.
1977 A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory i. 76 All descriptive predicates, however ‘theoretical’, are learned in conjunction with definite stimulus-situations.
stimulus-threshold n.
ΚΠ
1897 C. H. Judd tr. W. M. Wundt Outl. Psychol. 254 The stimulus from which the resulting psychical process, for example, a sensation, can be just apperceived, is called the stimulus-threshold.
stimulus-unit n.
ΚΠ
1894 J. E. Creighton & E. B. Titchener tr. W. M. Wundt Lect. Human & Animal Psychol. 37 The way to determine this is obviously to set out, not from a definite stimulus-unit, but from the unit of sensation.
stimulus-value n.
ΚΠ
1935 L. Bloomfield in C. Hockett Bloomfield Anthol. (1970) 310 His audience will respond only to the exact stimulus-value of his words.
1962 Sci. Surv. 15 251 Now the ‘stimulus value’ of a moving object depends not only on the actual capacity of the eye to detect and evaluate movement, but [etc.].
stimulus-word n.
ΚΠ
1905 Psychol. Bull. 2 249 The influence of the grammatical form of the stimulus-word on the reaction is rather striking.
1971 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. 84 281 Stimulus words were carefully selected in order to control for associative response frequencies.
C2.
stimulus diffusion n. (see quot. 19402).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > [noun] > process > types of
cantonizing1611
diffusion1871
social differentiation1872
acculturation1880
feminization1901
mobilization1911
acculturalization1929
mimesis1934
schismogenesis1935
stimulus diffusion1940
transculturation1941
nativism1943
massification1946
villagization1954
1940 A. L. Kroeber in Amer. Anthropologist 42 1 (title) Stimulus diffusion.
1940 A. L. Kroeber in Amer. Anthropologist 42 1 It is the idea of the complex or system which is accepted, but it remains for the receiving culture to develop a new content. This somewhat special process might therefore be called ‘idea-diffusion’ or ‘stimulus diffusion’.
1978 Language 54 207 If diffusion is to be thought of as operating between the sub-areas, it can only be ‘stimulus diffusion’.
stimulus function n. Psychology the varying function or property of being a (potential) stimulus, i.e. the capacity to elicit the sensory or motor response of an organism.
ΚΠ
1922 R. H. Wheeler & T. D. Cutsforth in Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 33 378 This meaning develops as a dual process consisting (1) of shifting contents which determine the presence or absence of meaning and whether the meaning shall be general or specific—a stimulus function; and (2) of the development of a motor attitude in the presence of these shifting contents which constitutes a recognition of this meaning—a response function.
2004 W. D. Pierce & C. D. Cheney in Behavioral Anal. & Learning ii. 30 Of all the stimuli that can be physically measured and sensed by an organism, at any one moment, only some affect behaviour (have a stimulus function).
stimulus generalization n. the fact that the response elicited by one stimulus can also be elicited by other stimuli associated with but not identical to the original.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > stimulus-response > response > continuation of response > [noun]
fusion1892
perseveration1907
stimulus generalization1943
1943 C. L. Hull Princ. Behavior xii. 183 The reaction involved in the original conditioning becomes connected with a considerable zone of stimuli other than, but adjacent to, the stimulus conventionally involved in the original conditioning; this is called stimulus generalization.
1977 in Honig & Staddon Handbk. Operant Behavior xi. 316/2 Another possibility is that the mechanism underlying conditioned reinforcement is stimulus generalization.
stimulus-response n. abbrev. form of stimulus-and-response, used attributively or as adj. to denote this process, esp. when considered as the basic element in the study of sense preception, learning or behaviour modification; = S–R n. at S n.1 Initialisms 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > stimulus-response > [noun]
stimulus-response1921
S–R1935
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > stimulus-response > [adjective]
stimulus-response1921
1921 Psychol. Rev. 28 390 The response member of a stimulus-response couple may consist of a group of reactions.
1927 L. L. Bernard Introd. Social Psychol. viii. 109 Tropism is not a stimulus-response process in the same sense that reflexes and instincts are. It makes use of stimulus-response mechanisms.
1957 E. R. Hilgard Introd. Psychol. (ed. 2) i. 21/1 Stimulus-response theory (or S-R theory, as it is commonly called) asserts that all behavior is in response to stimuli.
1964 E. A. Nida Toward Sci. Translating iii. 40 In most actual instances of communication, verbal symbols enter into a chain of stimulus-response situations.
1980 Dædalus Spring 23 This evidence of central control over receptors..affected the picture of the stimulus-response relationship that had dominated psychology for decades.
Draft additions March 2021
stimulus package n. originally U.S. a set of temporary financial measures enacted by a government with the aim of encouraging economic growth, esp. during a recession. Such measures typically include increased government spending, quantitative easing, and temporary tax reductions.
ΚΠ
1975 Sun (Baltimore) 16 Feb. k3/1 The White House and Congress can argue all they want about the size of any stimulus package.
1993 Vision Change Amer. 21 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (103rd Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Doc. 49) Tax incentives for immediate increases in investment by large and small business are also a vital part of the stimulus package.
2020 Malay Mail (Nexis) 29 Apr. The question remains: how have these stimulus packages affected the cash-flow issues of individuals brought on by the Covid-19 crisis, at least in the short term?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1684- take at rebound
- take at the bound
- take at the first bound
- take at the rebound
- take at worst
- take at worth
- take au grand sérieux
- take away
- take away every knot in the bulrush
- take aworth
- take back
- take bad
- take before the bound
- take beginning
- take benefit of
- take better way with you
- take block
- take boat
- take bog
- take boggle
- take boldness
- take borrowing
- take bread and salt
- take breath
- take bug