rheostat

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rheostat

/ˈɹiː.ə.stat/ UK
/-stæt/ UK
/-əʊ-/ UK
/ˈɹi.əˌstæt/ Canada, US
/-oʊ-/ Canada, US
/ˈɹiː.ə.stæt/ Australia
[-əʉ̯-] Australia
/ˈɹiː.ə.stɛt/ New Zealand
[-ɐʉ̯-] New Zealand
/ˈɹi.ə.stat/ Scotland
/-o-/ Scotland

Where it comes from

From rheo- (prefix meaning ‘current; flow’) + -stat (suffix forming the names of scientific instruments which render the prefixed elements static or stationary in some respect), coined by the English physicist and inventor Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875) in an 1843 journal article: see the quotation.

* Rheo- is derived from Ancient Greek ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow, stream”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow, stream”), possibly from *ser- (“to flow”).

* -Stat is derived from Ancient Greek -στάτης (-státēs), from ῐ̔́στημῐ (hĭ́stēmĭ, “to stand; to stop”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”).

noun rheostats · reostat

An electrical resistor with two terminals, the resistance of which can be varied continuously by moving a knob or slider to regulate the flow of an electric current. [page 309] As the principal use of this instrument is to adjust or regulate the circuit so that any constant degree of force may be obtained, I have called it a Rheostat. […] [page 311] The rheostat, especially under the form last described, may be usefully employed as a regulator of a voltaic curre
Such a device used to regulate the brightness of an electric light; a dimmer. The light in the radio cabin was very dim, the rheostat of the angled table lamp had been turned down until only a faint pool of yellow fell on the scratched metal of the table, […]
Similar: dimmer switch
figuratively A notional device which causes some quality to vary. The world had dimmed a little when she was gone, as if there were a rheostat on the sun and somebody had turned it down, just one notch.

Translations

Every language

noun electrical resistor with two terminals, the resistance of which can be varied continuously by moving a knob or slider to regulate the flow of an electric curren

Español	reostato, reóstato
日本語	可変抵抗器 kahen teikōki
中文	變阻器 /变阻器 biànzǔqì
Français	rhéostat, potentiomètre
Deutsch	Rheostat, Widerstand
Italiano	reostato, potenziometro
Română	reostat
Русский	реоста́т reostát
Tiếng Việt	biến trở

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MLA

"rheostat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rheostat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rheostat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rheostat

Chicago

"rheostat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rheostat.

BibTeX

@misc{rheostat_2026,
  title = {rheostat},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rheostat},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}