detector

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a device that senses and registers a substance, signal, or physical phenomenon

   The detector recorded every burst of radiation from the sample.

2. 2
   noun

   an electronic circuit or device that extracts information carried by a radio signal

   The receiver's detector recovered the audio signal from the carrier wave.

From Latin detector ("discoverer, revealer"), built on detegere ("to uncover"), and later analyzed in English as detect + -or. The instrument sense developed with devices that reveal otherwise imperceptible signals or substances.

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