What does transistor mean?
A transistor is a small semiconductor device that controls, switches, or amplifies electrical current. It is one of the fundamental building blocks of modern electronics, appearing in everything from radios and televisions to computers, mobile phones, medical equipment, and industrial machinery. In a typical circuit, a transistor responds to a small input signal by changing the current flowing through another part of the circuit, allowing signals to be controlled with considerable speed and reliability. Transistors replaced many of the larger and less durable vacuum tubes that had previously limited the size and efficiency of electronic equipment. Their reliability and low power consumption helped make portable and miniaturized devices practical. The word is normally used in technical and educational contexts, although “transistor” can also refer, in dated usage, to a small portable radio. Its central importance to the electronics industry makes it a foundational term in the vocabulary of computing and engineering.
nounA transistor is a semiconductor device that uses a small electrical signal to control, switch, or amplify a larger current. Transistors are fundamental components in electronic devices and circuits.
- A small semiconductor device that controls, switches, or amplifies electrical current and is used in electronic circuits.
- A small portable radio, especially one using transistor technology; this sense is now dated but remains understood.
"The radio contains a transistor that amplifies the weak electrical signal received by its antenna."
"A tiny transistor in the device regulates the power supplied to the display."
"He listened to the football match on a battery-powered transistor in the garden."
The regular plural is used when referring to multiple transistor devices or components.
"The circuit contains dozens of transistors arranged on a small board."
The tiny device that helped replace bulky vacuum tubes—and turned radios into pocket-sized objects—got its name from transfer and resistor.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does transistor come from?
The word was coined in the early twentieth century at Bell Telephone Laboratories by combining “transfer” and “resistor,” reflecting the device’s role in transferring and controlling electrical current. Its elements draw ultimately on Latin roots associated with moving across and with resistance, while “resistor” itself is formed from the Latin root for resisting or standing back. The compound name was closely associated with the early development of solid-state electronics and the replacement of vacuum tubes.
Related word forms
How transistor is actually used
In modern technical English, transistor most often refers to the individual semiconductor component rather than to a radio. The radio sense is chiefly dated but still occurs in historical and nostalgic contexts. The term is neutral technical vocabulary in both British and American English.
Easily confused with transistor
A resistor limits and controls electrical current, whereas a transistor uses a small signal to switch or amplify a larger current.