Questions tagged [agent-noun-suffix]

Questions about suffixes like "-er" that create "agent nouns"; see also the tag "agent-nouns".

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80 votes
3 answers
133k views

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 -...
Claudiu's user avatar
  • 10.9k
32 votes
6 answers
60k views

Difference between "commentor" and "commentator"

What is the difference between commentor and commentator? Is commentor or commenter a legitimate English word?
Harrison Maseko's user avatar
14 votes
4 answers
32k views

"-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 ...
detunized's user avatar
  • 243
34 votes
8 answers
221k views

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 ...
lomaxx's user avatar
  • 603
24 votes
3 answers
13k views

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.
arex1337's user avatar
  • 393
4 votes
2 answers
7k views

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 ...
Gennady Vanin Геннадий Ванин's user avatar
205 votes
1 answer
670k views

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 ...
aedia λ's user avatar
  • 10.7k
37 votes
5 answers
67k views

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 ...
James Anderson's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
8k views

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 ...
eidylon's user avatar
  • 263
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

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 ...
Jon Takagi's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
2k views

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 ...
Eneko Alonso's user avatar
10 votes
9 answers
23k views

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 ...
crodjer's user avatar
  • 245
8 votes
2 answers
6k views

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 ...
coleopterist's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
9k views

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 ...
Scott's user avatar
  • 143
2 votes
2 answers
18k views

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 ...
TheIronCheek's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
295 views

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 ...
Tenders McChiken's user avatar