Adaptors

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Devices used to modify or convert one type of connection or interface into another
2. Components that facilitate compatibility between different systems or formats
3. Instruments designed to allow disparate elements to work together effectively

Etymology: "Adaptors" is the plural of "adaptor," a noun meaning a device that lets one kind of plug fit a different kind of socket. The surprising part is that the word has no ancient history of its own: it is a modern English formation built from "adapt" and the agent suffix "-or." Its distant ancestor is the Latin verb "adaptāre," meaning to fit one thing to another, itself built from "ad-" (toward) and "aptāre" (to fit), which comes from "aptus," fitted or suitable. The route into English ran through French and Middle English. The Latin verb passed into Middle English as "adapten," and the English verb "adapt" emerged from it. The agent ending "-or," which Latin inherited into words like "creator" and "actor," was attached to the English verb to name a person or thing that performs the action. Electrical adaptors are a much later application of that old pattern, so the device is named by the same logic as the Latin-derived "adaptor" in other senses, not by any special technical history of its own.

Synonyms: adapters, converters, modifiers, transformers