different between instigator vs antagonist

English

Etymology

From Latin inst?g?tor (“stimulator”), from instig?re (present infinitive of ?nst?g? (“to incite, set on, stimulate, rouse or urge”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp, to stab; to puncture; to goad”)) + -or (from -? (“suffix forming masculine agent nouns”), from Proto-Indo-European *-h?onh?- (“suffix forming nouns denoting authority or burden”)); cognate with French instigateur.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??nst??e?t?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??nst???e?t?/, /-??/
• Hyphenation: in?sti?gat?or

Noun

instigator (plural instigators)

1. A person who intentionally instigates, incites, or starts something, especially one that creates trouble.
   • 1964, Albert Pepitone, “The Reaction to Boastfulness”, in Attraction and Hostility: An Experimental Analysis of Interpersonal and Self Evaluation (The Atherton Press Behavioral Science Series), New York, N.Y.: Atherton Press, OCLC 490312942; reprinted New Brunswick, N.J.: Aldine Transaction, Transaction Publishers, 2009, ?ISBN, page 77:

     In studies designed to arouse aggression, the instigator often not only threatens the subject, but also expresses an extremely high self-evaluation. Subjects are insulted about their intelligence, sexual attractiveness, and character, and, at the same time, the instigator implies or explicitly describes his own superiority in these respects.

Alternative forms

• instigatour (obsolete, rare)

Synonyms

• inciter
• initiator
• troublemaker

Related terms

• instigate
• instigation

Translations

Latin

Verb

?nst?g?tor

1. second-person singular future passive imperative of ?nst?g?
2. third-person singular future passive imperative of ?nst?g?

References

• instigator in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• instigator in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• instigator in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• instigator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Romanian

Etymology

From French instigateur

Noun

instigator m (plural instigatori)

1. instigator

Declension

English

Etymology

From Latin antagonista, from Ancient Greek ???????????? (antag?nist?s, “opponent”) (???? (antí, “against”) + ????????? (ag?nist?s, “a combatant, pleader, actor”)), from ?????????????? (antag?nízesthai, “antagonize”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æn?tæ??n?st/

Noun

antagonist (plural antagonists)

1. An opponent or enemy.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     our antagonists in these controversies

2. One who antagonizes or stirs.
3. (biochemistry) A chemical that binds to a receptor but does not produce a physiological response, blocking the action of agonist chemicals.
   • 2001: The calcium antagonists represent one of the top ten classes of prescription drugs in terms of commercial value, with worldwide sales of nearly $10 billion in 1999. — Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2001, p. 41)
4. (authorship) The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.
5. (anatomy) A muscle that acts in opposition to another.

   A flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.

Antonyms

• protagonist
• agonist (biochemistry)

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• stagnation

Danish

Noun

antagonist c (singular definite antagonisten, plural indefinite antagonister)

1. (literature) antagonist

Declension

Synonyms

• skurk

Further reading

• “antagonist” in Den Danske Ordbog

Romanian

Etymology

From French antagoniste, from Latin antagonista.

Adjective

antagonist m or n (feminine singular antagonist?, masculine plural antagoni?ti, feminine and neuter plural antagoniste)

1. antagonist

Declension