receptor

From Middle English receptour, from Old French receptour or Latin receptōrius, from recipiō (“receive”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to hold”).

• (non-rhotic)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈsɛp.tə/, [ɹɪˈsɛp.tʰəː]
  • (General Australian, weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈsep.tə/, [ɹəˈsep.tʰə]
  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɹɘˈse̝p.tɘ/, [ɹɘˈse̝p.tʰɘ]
• (rhotic)
  • (General American, Standard Canadian)
    • (weak vowel distinction) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈsɛp.tɚ/, [ɹɪˈsɛp.tʰɚ] ~ [ɹɪˈsɛp.tʰɹ̩]

      • Audio (US):

        (file)

    • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈsɛp.tɚ/, [ɹəˈsɛp.tʰɚ] ~ [ɹəˈsɛp.tʰɹ̩]
• Rhymes: -ɛptə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: re‧cep‧tor

receptor (plural receptors)

1. (biochemistry, medicine) A protein on a cell wall that binds with specific molecules so that they can be absorbed into the cell in order to control certain functions.
   • 2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 24:

     In the target organ, the drug is recognised by ‘receptors’. These are large molecules, usually proteins, to which the drug binds tightly and with a high degree of specificity.

   • 2019 May 14, Moises Velasquez-Manoff, “Can CBD Really Do All That?”, in The New York Times Magazine‎^[1]:

     White blood cells of the immune system, the gut and the spleen also have another type of cannabinoid receptor, known as CB2.

2. (biology) Any specialized cell or structure that responds to sensory stimuli.
3. (obsolete) One who receives something or someone; in particular, one who harbors a fugitive.

   Coordinate terms: receiptor, resetter

   • 1585, Fleetwood, in 1824, Henry Ellis, Original letters, illustrative of English history, page 297:

     […] fewe that were there did spend the same daie abowte the searchinge out of sundrye that were receptors of ffelons, where we fownd a greate manye aswell in London, Westminster, Sowthwarke, as in all other places abowte the same.

   • 1609, William Barlow, Answer to a nameless Catholic's censure, page 13:

     The kind Receptors of the Fugitiues after the Detection.

   • 1660, Virginia statue, The Statutes at Large, Virginia, published 1809, page 538:

     An act […] Against pyrats, their assistors or abettors, out-traidors or receptors, against breakers of the admirall's arrestments and attachments against goods forbidden,

• effector

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [rə.səpˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [re.sepˈtoɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Borrowed from Latin receptōrius.

receptor (feminine receptora, masculine plural receptors, feminine plural receptores)

1. receptive

Borrowed from Latin receptōrem.

receptor m (plural receptors)

1. receptor

Borrowed from English receptor.

• IPA^(key): /rɛˈt͡sɛp.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛptɔr
• Syllabification: re‧cep‧tor

receptor m pers

1. (biochemistry, medicine) sensory receptor (protein on a cell wall that responds to sensory stimuli)
2. (biology) receptor (any specialized cell or structure that responds to sensory stimuli)
3. sensor (automatic warning device, sensitive to changes in certain physical quantities)

   Synonyms: czujka, czujnik, sensor

• “receptor”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “receptor”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

• Hyphenation: re‧cep‧tor

receptor (feminine receptora, masculine plural receptores, feminine plural receptoras)

1. Brazilian Portuguese standard spelling of recetor

receptor m (plural receptores, feminine receptora, feminine plural receptoras)

1. Brazilian Portuguese standard spelling of recetor

• “receptor”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “receptor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French récepteur.

receptor m or n (feminine singular receptoare, masculine plural receptori, feminine/neuter plural receptoare)

1. receiving

receptor n (plural receptoare)

1. receiver

receptor m (plural receptori)

1. (medicine) receptor

• IPA^(key): /reθebˈtoɾ/ [re.θeβ̞ˈt̪oɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /resebˈtoɾ/ [re.seβ̞ˈt̪oɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: re‧cep‧tor

Borrowed from Latin receptorius.

receptor (feminine receptora, masculine plural receptores, feminine plural receptoras)

1. receiving

Borrowed from Latin receptorius.

receptor m (plural receptores)

1. receiver, receptor, recipient
2. (baseball) catcher

• “receptor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025