stimoliate

Stimoliate is an English verb meaning to stimulate or excite to action; to spur on; to arouse physiological or mental activity. In modern English, the form is rare and generally considered archaic. Contemporary writers typically use stimulate to convey the same sense; stimoliate appears primarily in historical texts or in dictionaries as an obsolete variant.

Etymology and history: The word derives from Latin stimulare ‘to spur, excite’ and entered English through early modern usage. The appearance of the form with the -ol- sequence likely reflects orthographic conservatism or analogies with other Latin-derived verbs; today stimoliate is not a productive form in standard English.

Usage notes: In present-day scientific, medical, or psychological writing, stimulate is preferred. Stimulate is used as the verb, stimulation as the noun, and stimulant to denote an agent that causes stimulation. Stimoliate may appear in older glossaries, dictionaries, or regional dialects, but its usage is generally avoided in contemporary formal prose.

See also: Stimulus; Stimulation; Stimulant; Stimulating; Stimulate.