Convectors

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Devices designed to transfer heat into a space, often through circulating air
2. Instruments that utilize a heating element to warm a room by convection of air currents
3. Heating systems that operate by drawing cooler air in and expelling warmed air, enhancing comfort in indoor environments

Etymology: "Convectors" is the plural of "convector," a device that heats a room by warming air and letting it circulate. The word is built from "convect," a verb formed from the Latin "convectus," the past participle of "convehere," meaning "to carry together" or "to bring together." In heat science, convection describes how warmed air or liquid rises and moves, carrying heat with it, so the device is named for that moving flow. The ending "-or" is the familiar English agent suffix, which turns a verb into a noun for something that performs the action. It traces back through Old French and Middle English to Latin "-tor," which likewise formed nouns for doers. A convector, then, is literally a thing that does the convecting, moving heat through a space by way of the air it carries.

Synonyms: heaters, radiators