receptor

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (non-rhotic)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈsɛp.tə/, [ɹɪˈsɛp.tʰəː]
  • (Australia, 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

Noun

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], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2 February 2026:

     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,

Hyponyms

• acetylcholine receptor
• adrenergic receptor
• alpha-receptor
• aquareceptor
• beneceptor
• cannabinoid receptor
• chimeric antigen receptor
• co-receptor
• exteroceptor
• Fc receptor
• gasoreceptor
• glucocorticoid receptor
• granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor
• hygroreceptor
• interoceptor
• J receptor
• juxtacapillary receptor
• mechanoreceptorial
• nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
• nociceptor
• opioid receptor
• orphan receptor
• photoreceptor
• proprioceptor
• purinergic receptor
• toll-like receptor

Derived terms

• adrenoreceptor
• angiotensin receptor blocker
• aporeceptor
• autoreceptor
• bioreceptor
• ceptor
• chemoreceptor
• continuous erythropoietin receptor activator
• coreceptor
• counterreceptor
• electroreceptor
• enteroreceptor
• exteroreceptor
• gasoreceptor
• glycoreceptor
• gravireceptor
• heteroreceptor
• holoreceptor
• hydroreceptor
• immunoreceptor
• interreceptor
• isoreceptor
• magnetoreceptor
• mechanoreceptor
• metaboreceptor
• minireceptor
• multireceptor
• -nercept
• nercept
• neuroreceptor
• neutroceptor
• nonreceptor
• osmoreceptor
• perireceptor
• phosphoreceptor
• postreceptor
• protoreceptor
• pseudoreceptor
• purinoceptor
• radioreceptor
• receptome
• receptomic
• receptomics
• receptoral
• receptorless
• receptorome
• sartan
• selective androgen receptor modulator
• thermohygroreceptor
• thermoreceptor
• TNF receptor associated periodic syndrome
• xenoreceptor

Related terms

• effector

Translations

a protein on a cell wall that responds to sensory stimuli

• Arabic: مُسْتَقْبِل (mustaqbil)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 受體 / 受体 (sau⁶ tai²)

  Mandarin: 受體 / 受体 (zh) (shòutǐ)

• Czech: receptor (cs) m, přijímač (cs) m
• Finnish: reseptori (fi)
• French: récepteur (fr)
• German: Rezeptor (de) m
• Indonesian: reseptor (id)
• Irish: gabhdóir m
• Italian: recettore (it) m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: wergir (ku) f

• Polish: receptor (pl) m
• Portuguese: receptor (pt)
• Romanian: receptor (ro) m
• Spanish: receptor (es) m
• Turkish: reseptör (tr), almaç (tr)

any specialized cell or structure that responds to sensory stimuli

• Finnish: reseptori (fi)
• French: récepteur (fr)
• German: Rezeptor (de) m, Rezeptorzelle f
• Indonesian: reseptor (id)
• Irish: gabhdóir m
• Italian: recettore (it) m
• Kazakh: қабылдағыш (qabıldağıš), рецептор (receptor)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: xaneya wergir f

• Māori: paerongo
• Polish: receptor (pl) m
• Portuguese: receptor (pt)
• Romanian: receptor (ro) m
• Sanskrit: वेद॑न (sa) m (védana)
• Russian: реце́птор (ru) m (recéptor)
• Spanish: receptor (es) m

one who receives something or someone

• Hindi: लाभार्थी m (lābhārthī)
• Spanish: receptor (es) m

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin receptōrius.

Adjective

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

1. receptive

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin receptōrem.

Noun

receptor m (plural receptors)

1. receptor

Related terms

• rebre
• recepció

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English receptor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛˈt͡sɛp.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

Noun

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

Declension

Declension of receptor

	singular	plural
nominative	receptor	receptorzy, receptory1
genitive	receptora	receptorów
dative	receptorowi	receptorom
accusative	receptora	receptorów
instrumental	receptorem	receptorami
locative	receptorze	receptorach
vocative	receptorze	receptorzy

¹Deprecative.

Derived terms

adjective

• receptorowy

noun

• baroreceptor

Further reading

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

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁe.se.piˈtoʁ/ [he.se.piˈtoh], /ʁe.sepˈtoʁ/ [he.sepˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁe.se.piˈtoʁ/ [he.se.piˈtoh], /ʁe.sepˈtoʁ/ [he.sepˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ʁe.se.piˈtoɾ/ [he.se.piˈtoɾ], /ʁe.sepˈtoɾ/ [he.sepˈtoɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁe.se.piˈtoʁ/ [χe.se.piˈtoχ], /ʁe.sepˈtoʁ/ [χe.sepˈtoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ʁe.se.piˈtoɻ/ [he.se.piˈtoɻ], /ʁe.sepˈtoɻ/ [he.sepˈtoɻ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨ.sɨpˈtoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨ.sɨpˈtoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨ.sɨpˈto.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: re‧cep‧tor

Adjective

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

1. Brazilian Portuguese standard spelling of recetor

Noun

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

1. Brazilian Portuguese standard spelling of recetor

Further reading

• “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

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wre-

Latin re-

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Italic *kapjō

Archaic Latin kapiō

Latin capiō

Latin recipiō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin receptorlbor.

French récepteurbor.

Romanian receptor

Borrowed from French récepteur.

Adjective

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

1. receiving

Declension

Declension of receptor

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	receptor		receptoare	receptori	receptoare
	definite	receptorul		receptoarea	receptorii	receptoarele
genitive- dative	indefinite	receptor		receptoare	receptori	receptoare
	definite	receptorului		receptoarei	receptorilor	receptoarelor

Noun

receptor n (plural receptoare)

1. receiver

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	receptor	receptorul	receptoare	receptoarele
genitive-dative	receptor	receptorului	receptoare	receptoarelor
vocative	receptorule		receptoarelor

Noun

receptor m (plural receptori)

1. (medicine) receptor

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	receptor	receptorul	receptori	receptorii
genitive-dative	receptor	receptorului	receptori	receptorilor
vocative	receptorule		receptorilor

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wre-

Latin re-

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Italic *kapjō

Archaic Latin kapiō

Latin capiō

Latin recipiō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -tōrius

Latin receptōriuslbor.

Spanish receptor

Learned borrowing from Latin receptōrius.

Adjective

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

1. receiving

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wre-

Latin re-

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Italic *kapjō

Archaic Latin kapiō

Latin capiō

Latin recipiō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -tōrius

Latin receptōriuslbor.

Spanish receptor

Learned borrowing from Latin receptōrius.

Noun

receptor m (plural receptores)

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

Related terms

• recepción
• receptáculo
• receptar
• recibir

Further reading

• “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