regulator
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
9 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "regulator", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "regulator" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "regulator" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
regulator is aEnglishnoun. It means: A device that controls or limits something. Pronounced /ˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.leɪ.tə/. Often confused with regulatory and regular.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | regulator |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.leɪ.tə/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #12,668 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for regulator is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɛɡ.jʊ.leɪ.tə/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,668 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for regulator, with forms such as "ergulator", "reggulator", and "regluator". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "regulatory", "regular", "regulate", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From regulate + -or. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is regulator, spelled R-E-G-U-L-A-T-O-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A device that controls or limits something.
- 2A device that controls or limits something.
- 3A person or group that sets standards of practice, especially regulatory law as sanctioned by statutory law.
- 4A very accurate clock, used by clockmakers to measure the timekeeping of each newly made clock.
- 5A gene involved in controlling the expression of one or more other genes.
- 6A device that controls the supply of steam to the cylinders of a steam locomotive.
- 7Synonym of bulldozer (“member of intimidating group of white US Southerners”).
- 8A positive real number determining the density of the units in Dirichlet's unit theorem.
- 9Short for diving regulator.
Etymology
From regulate + -or.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ergulator,reggulator,regluator,regualtor,regulaotr,regulatorr,regulatro,regulattor,regullator,regultaor,reuglator,rgeulator,rregulator
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for regulator
Misspelling Variants of "regulator"
Frequency rank: #12,668 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "regulator"?
What does "regulator" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "regulator"?
How do you pronounce "regulator"?
What is the origin of the word "regulator"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter R in our English index: