Stentor

Origin

From Latin Stentōr, from Ancient Greek Στέντωρ (Stentor), the name of a herald in the Iliad who had a loud voice.

Full definition of stentor

Noun

1. A person with a powerful or stentorian voice.
• 1609, Ben Jonson, Act IV, Scene II, 1989, Johanna Procter (editor), The Selected Plays of Ben Jonson, Volume 1, page 381,Rogues, hellhounds, Stentors, out of my doors, you sons of noise and tumult, begot on an ill May Day, or when the galley-foist is afloat to Westminster!
2. Any protozoan of the genus Stentor.
• 1894, James H. Logan, Observations on AmÅ“ba and Stentor, Western Druggist, Volume 16, page 7,Ere long a solitary amÅ“ba and stentor were found engaged in a struggle, which continued for some time with varying success, finally ending with the escape of the latter.
• 1943, The Biological Review, Volumes 5-18, page 15,When the stentors become too numerous it is a simple matter to subdivide the culture and add the requisite amount of spring water to each culture.
• 2004, Helen Saul, Phobias: Fighting the Fear, page 42,It can be an irritant even for humans and is certainly toxic to tiny animals like stentor. He added carmine to the water tank in which the stentor was living, and simply watched to see what happened.
3. A part of the amplification system of a carillon.http://books.google.com/books?id=wyJN2YulEHoC&pg=PA334&lpg=PA334&dq=carillion+stentor&source=bl&ots=QBMJLxwhIo&sig=Wzk5yG8lIb5kVX9vNwjfNC6I4sg&hl=en&ei=oPLcS4iGGYbK9gTLp6WyBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://expo67.ncf.ca/expo_sunlife_carillon_p4.html
• 1956, College and University Business, Volume 21, page 65,The unit is completely automatic in operation and tower stentors, matching the power output of the amplifier, are provided for roof or tower mounting.
4. A howler monkey.

Derived terms

• stentorian