different between startle vs excite

English

Etymology

From Middle English startlen, stertlen, stertyllen (“to rush, stumble along”), from Old English steartlian (“to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble”), equivalent to start +? -le. Cognate with Old Norse stirtla (“to hobble, stagger”), Icelandic stirtla (“to straighten up, erect”). Compare also Middle English stertil (“hasty”). More at start.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?st??t(?)l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?st??t(?)l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t?l

Verb

startle (third-person singular simple present startles, present participle startling, simple past and past participle startled)

1. (intransitive) To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.

   • Why shrinks the soul / Back on herself, and startles at destruction?

2. (transitive) To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.

   • The supposition, at least, that angels do sometimes assume bodies need not startle us.

   • 1896, Joseph Conrad, "An Outcast of the Islands"

     Nothing could startle her, make her scold or make her cry. She did not complain, she did not rebel.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To deter; to cause to deviate.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Clarendon to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (to move suddenly): start
• (to excite suddenly): alarm, frighten, scare, surprise
• (deter): deter

Derived terms

• startling

Translations

Noun

startle (plural startles)

1. A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.

Derived terms

• startler
• startlish

Translations

See also

• skittish

Anagrams

• Slatter, Stalter, Statler, rattles, slatter, starlet

English

Etymology

From Middle English exciten, from Old French exciter, from Latin excitare (“call out, call forth, arouse, wake up, stimulate”), frequentative of exciere (“call out, arouse excite”), from ex (“out”) + ciere (“call, summon”). See cite and compare to accite, concite, incite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?sa?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Hyphenation: ex?cite

Verb

excite (third-person singular simple present excites, present participle exciting, simple past and past participle excited)

1. (transitive) To stir the emotions of.

2. (transitive) To arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate.
3. (transitive, physics) To cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state; to promote an electron to an outer level.

4. To energize (an electromagnet); to produce a magnetic field in.

Antonyms

• relax, calm

Related terms

• excitement
• excitation

Translations

Further reading

• excite in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• excite in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Verb

excite

1. first-person singular present indicative of exciter
2. third-person singular present indicative of exciter
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of exciter
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of exciter
5. second-person singular imperative of exciter

Latin

Verb

exc?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of exci?

Portuguese

Verb

excite

1. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of excitar
2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você^?) present subjunctive of excitar
3. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of excitar
4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of excitar

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [eks?t??ite]

Verb

excite

1. third-person singular present subjunctive of excita
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of excita

Spanish

Verb

excite

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of excitar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of excitar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of excitar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of excitar.