Aligner

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈlaɪnɚ/

Definitions

1. A device used to position teeth for orthodontic purposes
2. An apparatus designed to adjust or stabilize components in alignment
3. A tool employed in various fields to ensure accurate placement or orientation of objects

Etymology: The word "aligner" is about as transparent as English gets: it is "align" with the agentive suffix "-er" attached. "Align" itself came into English from French "aligner", meaning to put in a line, which traces back to Old French "ligne" and Latin "linea", a thread or line. The suffix has its own long road. Its ancestor is the Latin "-arius", which English picked up through Old French "-ier" and Middle English "-er", while Old English "-ere" carried a parallel form inherited from Germanic "-ārijaz" and its Proto-Italic and Proto-Indo-European predecessors. So the core story is a line-making idea, joined to a suffix that has been turning verbs into doers and tools for well over a thousand years. The term for a device that holds parts in true position is simply that combination, with no separate coinage or famous inventor behind it.

Synonyms: straightener, fitter