excite

See also: excité

English

Etymology

From Middle English exciten, from Old French exciter, from Latin excitare (“call out, call forth, arouse, wake up, stimulate”), frequentative of exciere (“call out, arouse, excite”), from ex (“out”) + ciere (“call, summon”). See cite and compare to accite, concite, incite.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭk-sītʹ, IPA^(key): /ɪkˈsaɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪt
• Hyphenation: ex‧cite

Verb

excite (third-person singular simple present excites, present participle exciting, simple past and past participle excited)

1. (transitive) To stir the emotions of.

   The fireworks which opened the festivities excited anyone present.

2. (transitive) To arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate.

   Favoritism tends to excite jealousy in the ones not being favored.

   The political reforms excited unrest among the population.

   There are drugs designed to excite certain nerves in our body.

   • [c. 1430, Guillaume de Deguileville, chapter LXXXXIX, in [anonymous], transl., edited by William Aldis Wright, The Pilgrimage of the Lyf of the Manhode. From the French (Cambridge University Library, MS Kk.1.7) (in Middle English), London: Printed for the Roxburghe Club; J[ohn] B[owyer] Nichols and Sons, […], published 1869, →OCLC, 1st part, folio 39, page 54:

     [S]eint Poul seith and to the Romayns he hath writen that bi heeringe of swich ringinge men haven the feith perfytliche so that he putte not the ringinge in the scrippe but it exiteth the memorie in what manere men shulden bileeue

     [S]aint Paul says and to the Romans he has written that by hearing of such ringing men have the faith perfectly so that he did not put the ringing in the script but it exciteth the memory in what manner men should believe]

3. (transitive, physics) To cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state; to promote an electron to an outer level.

   By applying electric potential to the neon atoms, the electrons become excited, then emit a photon when returning to normal.

4. To energize (an electromagnet); to produce a magnetic field in.

   to excite a dynamo

Conjugation

Conjugation of excite

infinitive	(to) excite
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	excite	excited
2nd-person singular	excite, excitest†	excited, excitedst†
3rd-person singular	excites, exciteth†	excited
plural	excite
subjunctive	excite	excited
imperative	excite	—
participles	exciting	excited

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Antonyms

• relax, calm

Derived terms

• self-excite

Related terms

• excitement
• excitation

Translations

to stir the emotions of

• Armenian: գրգռել (hy) (grgṙel)
• Bulgarian: вълнувам (bg) (vǎlnuvam)
• Catalan: emocionar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 激動／激动 (zh) (jīdòng)

• Czech: vzrušit
• Dutch: prikkelen (nl), opwinden (nl)
• Esperanto: eksciti (eo)
• Faroese: øsa
• Finnish: innostaa (fi), kiihottaa (fi)
• French: exciter (fr)
• Georgian: აგზნება (agzneba), აღელვება (aɣelveba)
• German: erregen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὄρνυμι (órnumi)

• Hebrew: הלהיב m (helhiv), עורר (he) m (orer)
• Icelandic: æsa
• Irish: ardaigh
• Italian: stimolare (it), eccitare (it), riaccendere
• Japanese: 興奮させる (ja) (こうふんさせる, kōfun saseru)
• Latin: commoveō (la)
• Maori: whakaihiihi, whakawana
• Portuguese: animar (pt), empolgar (pt), comover (pt)
• Romanian: excita (ro)
• Russian: волнова́ть (ru) impf (volnovátʹ), взволнова́ть (ru) pf (vzvolnovátʹ), возбужда́ть (ru) impf (vozbuždátʹ), возбуди́ть (ru) pf (vozbudítʹ)
• Spanish: emocionar (es)
• Swahili: sisimua
• Turkish: heyecanlandırmak (tr)

to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate

• Armenian: գրգռել (hy) (grgṙel)
• Bulgarian: подбуждам (bg) (podbuždam), стимулирам (bg) (stimuliram)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 激發／激发 (zh) (jīfā)

• Czech: podnítit
• Dutch: stimuleren (nl), prikkelen (nl)
• Finnish: herättää (fi), synnyttää (fi)
• French: exciter (fr)
• Georgian: შეგულიანება (šegulianeba), სტიმულაცია (sṭimulacia), სტიმულირება (sṭimulireba)
• German: erregen (de), anregen (nerves)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὄρνυμι (órnumi)

• Hebrew: עורר (he) m (orer), ליבה (he) m (liba), דירבן m (dirben)
• Italian: provocare (it), accendere (it), stimolare (it)
• Japanese: 刺激する (ja) (しげきする, shigeki suru), 活性化させる (ja) (かっせいかさせる, kasseika saseru)
• Latin: excitō
• Maori: whakakenakena
• Old English: onǣlan
• Portuguese: provocar (pt)
• Russian: возбужда́ть (ru) impf (vozbuždátʹ), возбуди́ть (ru) pf (vozbudítʹ), стимули́ровать (ru) impf or pf (stimulírovatʹ)
• Spanish: estimular (es)
• Swahili: sisimua
• Turkish: teşvik etmek (tr)

to cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state

• Bulgarian: възбуждам (bg) (vǎzbuždam)
• Czech: excitovat
• Dutch: exciteren (nl)
• Finnish: virittää (fi)
• French: exciter (fr)
• Hebrew: עורר (he) m (orer)
• Italian: eccitare (it)
• Japanese: 励起する (ja) (れいきする, reiki suru)
• Russian: возбужда́ть (ru) impf (vozbuždátʹ), возбуди́ть (ru) pf (vozbudítʹ)
• Spanish: excitar (es)
• Swedish: excitera (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} აღელვება (aɣelveba), ^{(please verify)} აღგზნება (aɣgzneba)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} ecitar (io)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} excitar (es)

Further reading

• “excite”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “excite”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛk.sit/

Verb

excite

1. inflection of exciter:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ekˈskiː.te/, [ɛkˈs̠kiːt̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ekˈʃi.te/, [ekˈʃiːt̪e]

Verb

excīte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of exciō

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /eˈsi.t͡ʃi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /eˈsi.t͡ʃi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /eˈsi.te/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃˈsi.tɨ/, /(i)ˈsi.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /ɐjʃˈsi.tɨ/, /ɐjˈsi.tɨ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃˈsi.tɨ/, /(i)ˈsi.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /ɐjʃˈsi.tɨ/, /ɐjˈsi.tɨ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃˈsi.tɨ/, /(i)ˈsi.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /ejʃˈsi.tɨ/, /ejˈsi.tɨ/
  • (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃˈsi.tɨ/, /(i)ˈsi.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /ejʃˈsi.tɨ/, /ejˈsi.tɨ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃˈsi.tɨ/, /(i)ˈsi.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /eʃˈsi.tɨ/, /eˈsi.tɨ/

Verb

excite

1. inflection of excitar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [eksˈt͡ʃite]

Verb

excite

1. third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of excita

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /eɡsˈθite/ [eɣ̞sˈθi.t̪e]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /eɡˈsite/ [eɣ̞ˈsi.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ite
• Syllabification: ex‧ci‧te

Verb

excite

1. inflection of excitar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative