Penetrators

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals or objects that enter or force their way into a space or body; agents that succeed in making an entrance or breaking through barriers; elements capable of gaining access beyond a surface or boundary
2. Entities or devices that pierce or infiltrate another medium or structure; those who manage to gain entry into restricted or protected areas; forces that accomplish entering through obstacles or defenses
3. Subjects or items that move into or through an obstacle or layer; performers who achieve entry into places typically shut off; components that exert pressure to pass inside or among layers or bodies

Etymology: "Penetrators" is the plural of "penetrator," and the story is essentially one of English building on a Latin base. The verb "penetrate" comes from Latin "penetrare," meaning "to enter into the inside," built from "penitus" ("inward") and a verb of motion. English took the verb, then attached the agent suffix "-or" to form a noun for something or someone that does the penetrating. That suffix has an unusually long road behind it. It descends from a Proto-Italic form and Latin "-tor," which marked a doer of an action, and it passed through Old French "-eor" and Middle English "-our" before settling into the modern "-or" spelling in English. So the noun is a modern English formation whose ending has been reshaped over many centuries rather than a word that arrived whole from Latin.

Synonyms: invaders, intruders, assailants, attackers, infiltrators

Antonyms: defenders, protectors, blockers, guards, shielders