Ticker

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtɪkə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A brief code used to identify a stock or bond on an exchange ; a device that prints or displays stock prices and transaction information ; an instrument that produces repetitive signals or pulses, often for timing purposes
2. An abbreviation used to denote a particular security in markets ; a mechanical or electronic tool that shows market trades in real time ; a gadget that sends out rhythmic signals for synchronization or measurement
3. A short series of letters or numbers assigned to a stock for trading ; a ticker machine that delivers continuous updates of financial data ; a timing device that generates steady beats or impulses

Etymology: The word "ticker" is a plain formation: the verb "tick" (the light tapping or clicking sound of a clock or mechanism) with the agent suffix "-er," meaning a thing that does the ticking. The suffix itself has a long pedigree, having travelled from Latin "-arius" through Old French "-ier" and Middle English "-er" before settling into English as a productive ending for tools and devices. The financial sense is where the word becomes more interesting. A ticker was originally the mechanical device that printed or displayed stock prices as they changed, and its audible clicking was literally the sound of the tick. The machine's name stuck to the symbols it printed, so a company's short code on the tape came to be called its ticker symbol, and the word now denotes that abbreviation as well as the device.

Synonyms: ticker tape, stock ticker