Projector

How to spell projector

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce projector

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does projector mean?

1. nounA device that throws an enlarged image of slides, film, or video onto a screen or wall.

Projector in a sentence

• The conference room projector flickered before the slides finally appeared.

• He mounted the projector on the ceiling to free up the desk below.

Where does projector come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the Latin verb proicere, meaning 'to throw forward', which combines pro- 'forward' with jacere 'to throw'. The past participle stem projectus gave English the verb 'project', and adding the Latin agent suffix -or produced a noun for the thing (or person) that throws something forward. In its earliest English use a 'projector' was a person who formed schemes or plans, literally one who cast ideas forward, and the word carried a slightly disreputable tone of a speculator or promoter of dubious ventures. Only later, as optical technology developed, did the noun settle into its familiar modern meaning: a device that throws an enlarged image forward onto a screen. The same jacere root powers a whole family of words, including 'inject', 'eject' and 'trajectory', and remembering that buried 'ject' helps fix the spelling and the -or ending that marks the doer.

How the word is built

• pro- (forward)
• ject (from Latin jacere: to throw)
• -or (agent/instrument suffix)