Questions tagged [agent-noun-suffix]
Questions about suffixes like "-er" that create "agent nouns"; see also the tag "agent-nouns".
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What’s the rule for adding “-er” vs. “-or” when forming an agent noun from a verb?
What’s the rule to decide whether you add -er or whether you add -or when creating an agent noun from a verb?
Sometimes it’s -er:
read > reader
hate > hater
hit > hitter
But other times it’s -...
32
votes
6
answers
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Difference between "commentor" and "commentator"
What is the difference between commentor and commentator? Is commentor or commenter a legitimate English word?
14
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4
answers
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"-ee" and "-er" word endings
There are a few examples of pairs of words ending with -ee/-er like employee and employer or advisee and adviser. What I was curious about is if there was any rule that would describe the relationship ...
34
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8
answers
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What's the difference between "adviser" and "advisor" -- are both interchangeable?
I work for a financial services provider and we deal with "Financial Advisors" all the time. Increasingly, I'm seeing people send emails and so forth with the term "Financial Adviser" and the terms ...
24
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3
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One who creates is a creator. What is one who updates?
One who creates is a creator. What is one who updates?
An updater?
An updator?
The last one seems more logical, but also wrong.
4
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2
answers
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What do you call who writes comments? Commenter or commentator?
What should I call a person writing/adding comments (by pressing "add comment" link)? Commenter or commentator?
From a deleted answer, I understand that there are commentators (like those ...
205
votes
1
answer
670k
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What's the difference between "requester" and "requestor"?
Both are in dictionaries. I've heard people insist "requester" is correct for a person who requests something, and that "requestor" is wrong there, leaving me to wonder how it is ...
37
votes
5
answers
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Which is the proper spelling: "Adapter" or "adaptor"?
In my current project we are writing a program to convert a newer protocol to an older one.
These conversion programs are being referred to as adapters, but the team cannot agree which spelling to ...
5
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1
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What is the origin of "-ix" as a feminine variation?
Some words are made feminine by altering the suffix to be -ix. Examples:
dominator → dominatrix
executor → executrix
rector → rectrix
What is the origin of this variation?
From my 5 years of ...
1
vote
2
answers
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Synonyms for -mancy (like necromancy)
It's common enough for a type of magic to be described in fantasy as *-mancy: Arithmancy in Harry Potter, Astromancy in Warhammer 40k, etc. that picking a Greek or Latin root and adding -mancy is ...
13
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1
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Which category of nouns do 'driver', 'cleaner', 'writer', 'processor' belong to?
What category of nouns describes this group?
Verb -> Noun
To drive -> driver
To compute -> computer
To paint -> painter
To clean -> cleaner
To process -> processor
To calculate -> calculator
To ...
10
votes
9
answers
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Is there a single word for a member of a group who completes a job?
I have a job, for which some people are responsible, say: a, b, c, d and e. If anyone does the job, it is marked as complete.
Now let us say c completed the job, so what would I call that person in ...
8
votes
2
answers
6k
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Pedlar vs. peddler
The etymonline entry for peddler reads:
late 14c. (c.1300 as a surname, Will. Le Pedelare), from peoddere, peddere (c.1200, mid-12c. as a surname), of unknown origin. It has the appearance of an ...
4
votes
2
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When is the correct time to use 'granter' or 'grantor'
We have a site where we have people grant each other favors. Within the site, we have copy that says when you grant someone a favor, "you are a 'x'". Should the person who grants a favor to another ...
2
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2
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When is it appropriate to use "adjustor" instead of "adjuster"?
I found out recently that there are 2 different accepted ways to spell the word "adjuster". My question is whether or not there is a difference between the two spellings and when it's appropriate to ...
1
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2
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What is the agent noun of the verb mirror?
A google search made me realize that the the agent noun of mirror doesn't exist. What would such a word be if it did?
My best guess would be mirroror following the word mirroring and using the agent ...