Composter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A container or device designed for converting organic waste into nutrient-rich material for gardening ; a person who creates this material from biodegradable substances ; a worker or machine involved in decomposing matter for soil enrichment
2. A vessel or machine that processes food scraps and yard debris into natural fertilizer ; an individual engaged in producing compost from waste ; someone or something responsible for transforming decaying material into plant food
3. An apparatus or bin used to break down organic refuse for use in gardens ; a person who manages decomposition to generate compost ; any entity that facilitates transforming organic rubbish into soil conditioner

Etymology: A composter is a container for rotting kitchen and garden waste, and its name is as plain as its contents: it is the compost plus the English agent suffix "-er," meaning a thing that does something. The "-er" ending has a long pedigree, tracing back through Old English "-ere" and Old French "-ier" to the Latin suffix "-arius," which denoted a person or thing connected with a particular activity or object, as in "librarius" for a book-copyist. The base word "compost" came into English earlier, from Old French "composte," itself drawn from Latin "compositum," meaning something put together. So the bin is, in effect, a machine for making a mixture, and a composter is literally the thing that does the composting. The word is a transparent formation, with no surprises beyond the centuries of suffix that carried it into modern English.

Synonyms: compost bin, compost heap, compost pile, composting unit