What does demodulator mean?
A demodulator is an electronic device or circuit whose job is to recover the original information from a modulated carrier wave. In radio, television, and data communications, a transmitter first combines a message—speech, music, video, or digital data—with a high-frequency carrier signal so it can travel efficiently through the air or along a cable. At the receiving end, the demodulator reverses this process: it extracts the embedded message and discards the carrier, delivering usable audio, images, or data to the listener or computer. Demodulators range from simple diode detectors in early crystal radios to sophisticated digital circuits and software-defined implementations in modern receivers. The word belongs chiefly to electronics and telecommunications engineering and appears in phrases such as FM demodulator and demodulator circuit. It is the functional opposite of a modulator, which performs the encoding step at the transmitter.
nounA device that extracts the original information-bearing signal (such as audio or data) from a modulated carrier wave, reversing the process performed by a modulator.
- An electronic device or circuit in a receiver that recovers the original signal from a modulated carrier wave.
"The receiver's demodulator converts the incoming radio waves back into an audio signal."
"The satellite dish feeds the signal to a demodulator, which separates the video data from the carrier frequency."
"Engineers replaced the aging AM demodulator with a software-defined radio implementation."
Standard English plural; used when referring to multiple units or designs.
"Modern receivers often contain several demodulators for different signal types."
Every radio broadcast you've ever heard reached your ears only after a demodulator quietly stripped away the carrier wave hiding it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of demodulator
The word demodulator is formed from the prefix de- (indicating reversal) combined with modulator, derived from Latin modulatus, past participle of modulari, meaning 'to measure, regulate, or set to music,' itself from modulus ('a small measure'). It emerged in the twentieth century alongside the development of radio technology, when engineers needed terms for devices that reversed modulation. Its root is shared with words such as modulate, modulation, module, and model.
Related word forms
How demodulator is actually used
A technical term used primarily in electronics, telecommunications, and radio engineering; rarely encountered outside those contexts.
Easily confused with demodulator
A modulator impresses information onto a carrier wave, whereas a demodulator performs the reverse operation of recovering that information from the wave.