# stimulate

Pronunciation: US say "STIM-yuh-layt" /ˈstɪm.jəˌleɪt/; UK say "STIM-yuu-layt" /ˈstɪm.jʊ.leɪt/

## Verb

1. To encourage someone or something into greater activity or effort.
   - Simple: To make someone more active or eager to do something.
   - _Tax cuts are often designed to stimulate the economy._
   - _The open debate stimulated fresh ideas among the participants._
2. To rouse a living organism or its tissue into functional activity.
   - Simple: To make a living thing or one of its parts start working or become more active.
   - _Electrical pulses stimulate the nerve, causing the nearby muscle to contract._
   - _Certain hormones stimulate cells to divide more rapidly._

## Origin

Borrowed from Latin stimulātus, the perfect passive participle of stimulō ('to urge, goad on'), which comes from Latin stimulus ('a sting or prick; a goad').

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stimulate (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).