Moderator

How to spell moderator

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce moderator

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does moderator mean?

1. nounA person who presides over a discussion, debate, or meeting and keeps it orderly and fair.

Moderator in a sentence

• The moderator kept both candidates to their allotted speaking time.

• A volunteer moderator reviews every post before it appears on the forum.

Where does moderator come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes directly from the Latin moderator, meaning 'a controller' or 'one who keeps within bounds'. It was built on the verb moderari, which meant 'to regulate, manage, or restrain', and that verb in turn grew from modus, the Latin word for 'measure' or 'limit'. The underlying idea is therefore someone who keeps things in proportion and stops them from going to excess, which fits perfectly with a person who keeps a debate or discussion balanced and orderly. English adopted the word in the late 1300s, originally for a ruler or governor who kept things in check, and the sense of one who presides over a meeting or panel developed later. The same modus root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'moderate', 'mode', and 'modest', and remembering that family helps fix the -ator ending, since the agent who moderates is a moderator, not a 'moderater'.

How the word is built

• moder- (from Latin moderari: to regulate, restrain)
• -ator (agent noun: one who does)