stimolate

Stimolate is an English verb that is rarely encountered in contemporary usage. It is generally regarded as archaic or as a historical variant of the more common verb stimulate. In modern English, the preferred form is almost always stimulate, with stimolate appearing only in older texts, dialectal writings, or quotations where spelling conventions differed from today.

The word is etymologically linked to the same root as stimulate, deriving from Latin stimulare, meaning to spur or urge. The appearance of stimolate as a variant spelling reflects historical orthographic variation rather than a distinct semantic shift, and most dictionaries today classify it as obsolete or bibliographically marginal.

Usage of stimolate, when it does occur, mirrors the sense of stimulate: to excite activity, energy, or response in a person, group, organ, or system. Because it is not widely recognized in contemporary language, its appearance can cause confusion with similarly spelled words such as simulate, which means to imitate. Writers seeking clarity are advised to use stimulate for regular meaning and reserve any form of stimolate for historical quotations or discussions of linguistic history.

See also: stimulate, stimulus, stimulation, stimulation in biology.