inhibitor

C2+ Topic:Materials & Substances

US /ɪnˈhɪbɪtɚ/ UK /ɪnˈhɪbɪtə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a substance or agent that slows or prevents a reaction or process

The drug acts as an inhibitor of the enzyme that causes the swelling.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a substance or agent that... suppressantretardantblockerdepressant

Opposites

catalystaccelerantactivatorpromoter

Word family

Derived forms inhibitory

Related forms inhibit inhibition prohibit

Etymology

From Latin inhibere ('to hold in, restrain'), from in- ('in') + habere ('to have, hold'), with the agent suffix -or.

in- Latin habere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# inhibitor

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

## Meanings
1. a substance or agent that slows or prevents a reaction or process

## Examples
- The drug acts as an inhibitor of the enzyme that causes the swelling.

## Synonyms
- suppressant
- retardant
- blocker
- depressant

## Antonyms
- catalyst
- accelerant
- activator
- promoter

## Derived Forms
- inhibitory

## Related Forms
- inhibit
- inhibition
- prohibit

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: in-
- Root: habere

## Etymology
From Latin inhibere ('to hold in, restrain'), from in- ('in') + habere ('to have, hold'), with the agent suffix -or.

## AI Etymology
inhibitor comes from Latin inhibere ('to hold in, restrain'), from in- ('in') + habere ('to have, hold'), with the agent suffix -or. Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the noun sense is "a substance or agent that slows or prevents a reaction or process", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as inhibit, inhibition, and prohibit, and in derivatives such as inhibitory. Its semantic neighborhood includes suppressant, retardant, blocker, and depressant, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin in- and Latin habere.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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