arousal

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /əˈraʊzəl/ UK /əˈraʊzəl/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the act of awakening or the state of being stirred to activity or excitement

The drug increases physiological arousal and alertness.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the act of awakening or the... awakeningstimulation excitement stirring incitementkindling

Opposites

calming pacificationsedation

Word family

Related forms arouse rouserousing

Etymology

From arouse (from a- intensive prefix plus rouse, a word of obscure origin perhaps from Anglo-French) plus the noun suffix -al.

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# arousal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** əˈraʊzəl
**IPA (UK):** əˈraʊzəl

## Meanings
1. the act of awakening or the state of being stirred to activity or excitement

## Examples
- The drug increases physiological arousal and alertness.

## Synonyms
- awakening
- stimulation
- excitement
- stirring
- incitement
- kindling

## Antonyms
- calming
- pacification
- sedation

## Related Forms
- arouse
- rouse
- rousing

## Etymology
From arouse (from a- intensive prefix plus rouse, a word of obscure origin perhaps from Anglo-French) plus the noun suffix -al.

## AI Etymology
arousal comes from arouse (from a- intensive prefix plus rouse, a word of obscure origin perhaps from Anglo-French) plus the noun suffix -al. Morphologically, the word is transparent: -al is attached to the older base named in the history, so the modern form packages an inherited or borrowed stem inside a later English derivative. In modern use, the noun sense is "the act of awakening or the state of being stirred to activity or excitement", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as arouse, rouse, rousing, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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arousal

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