Elicitor

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A substance that initiates a biological reaction or response in an organism
2. An agent that causes a living organism to produce a specific reaction
3. A factor that induces a biological system to activate a defensive or physiological response

Etymology: "Elicitor" is simply "elicit" with the agent suffix "-or" added, meaning something that draws something out. The verb "elicit" came into English from Latin "elicere," "to draw out" or "to bring forth," built from "e-" (out) and "lacere" (to entice). Its core idea is extraction: something is pulled out of a person or situation, whether information, a response, or a reaction. The suffix "-or" has a longer road. It descends from Latin "-tor," the marker of a person or thing that performs an action, which passed through Old French "-eor" and Middle English "-our" before settling into modern "-or." Many English agent nouns, such as "actor" and "inventor," were formed the same way, so "elicitor" follows a familiar pattern rather than breaking new ground.

Synonyms: stimulus, trigger, catalyst