starter C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈstɑrtɚ/ UK /ˈstɑːtə/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a person or device that begins something; a first course of a meal We ordered soup as a starter before the main course. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a person or device that... appetizerbeginnerinitiatoropenerhors d'oeuvreentrée ↔ Opposites finisherdessert Word family Related forms startstarting Etymology AI details From the verb 'start' (Old English 'styrtan', to leap up, move suddenly) plus the agentive suffix '-er', denoting one who or that which starts something. styrtan Old English View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # starter **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈstɑrtɚ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈstɑːtə/ ## Meanings 1. a person or device that begins something; a first course of a meal ## Examples - We ordered soup as a starter before the main course. ## Synonyms - appetizer - beginner - initiator - opener - hors d'oeuvre - entrée ## Antonyms - finisher - dessert ## Related Forms - start - starting ## Roots and Affixes - Root: styrtan ## Etymology From the verb 'start' (Old English 'styrtan', to leap up, move suddenly) plus the agentive suffix '-er', denoting one who or that which starts something. ## AI Etymology Starter comes from the verb 'start' (Old English 'styrtan', to leap up, move suddenly) plus the agentive suffix '-er', denoting one who or that which starts something. The historical chain includes Old English styrtan. The quoted older senses, "start", "styrtan", and "-er", supply the semantic anchors for starter. The formation is best read as suffixal and borrowed: the word starter carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "a person or device that begins something; a first course of a meal". Related English forms include start and starting. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization. ## Topics - People & Society - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown