Meanings
present singular third person excites · participle present exciting · participle past excited · past excited · first person past singular excited · archaic present second person singular excitest · past second person singular excited · archaic past second person singular excitedst · present singular third person excites · archaic present singular third person exciteth · past singular third person excited · past plural excited · past subjunctive excited · participle present exciting · participle past excited
- transitiveTo arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate.
The political reforms excited unrest among the population.
4 more examples
Favoritism tends to excite jealousy in the ones not being favored.
Smugglers operating secretly so as not to excite suspicion.
[S]he assured them […] that they had better follow her to a place of safety. They were at length excited, by her mere importunance to leave the room, and soon after the house.
1840, Randolph Roscoe, The Emerald (page 53)[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
[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 54Synonyms: instigate, fire, provoke, abet, actuate, goose, fuel, light a fire under
- To energize (an electromagnet); to produce a magnetic field in.
to excite a dynamo
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate.
More synonyms by meaning
verbcause to be agitated, excited, or roused
verbstir the feelings, emotions, or peace of
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinexcitō“to call out, call forth, arouse, wake up, stimulate”
- Old Frenchexciter
- Middle Englishexciten
- Englishexcite
From Middle English exciten, from Old French exciter, from Latin excitō (“to call out, call forth, arouse, wake up, stimulate”), frequentative of excieō (“to call out, arouse, excite”), from ex (“out”) + cieō (“to call, summon”). See cite and compare to accite, concite, incite.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὄρνυμι, ὄρνυμι
- ὄρνυμι (órnumi)to stir the emotions of
- ὄρνυμι (órnumi)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Bulgarian вълнувам, подбуждам
- вълнувам (vălnuvam)to stir the emotions of
- подбуждам (podbuždam)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- стимулирам (stimuliram)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- възбуждам (văzbuždam)to cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Catalan emocionar
- emocionarto stir the emotions of
Chinese Mandarin 激動 /激动, 激發 /激发
- 激動 /激动 (jīdòng)to stir the emotions of
- 激發 /激发 (jīfā)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Czech vzrušit, podnítit
- vzrušitto stir the emotions of
- podnítitto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- excitovatto cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Dutch prikkelen, opwinden
- prikkelento stir the emotions of
- opwindento stir the emotions of
- stimulerento arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- prikkelento arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- exciterento cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Esperanto eksciti, elvoki
- ekscitito stir the emotions of
- elvokito arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Finnish innostaa, kiihottaa
- innostaato stir the emotions of
- kiihottaato stir the emotions of
- herättääto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- synnyttääto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- virittääto cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
French exciter, exciter
- exciterto stir the emotions of
- exciterto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- exciterto cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
German erregen, erregen
- erregento stir the emotions of
- erregento arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- anregento arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Hebrew הלהיב, עורר
- הלהיב (helhiv)to stir the emotions of
- עורר (orer)to stir the emotions of
- עורר (orer)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- ליבה (liba)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- דירבן (dirben)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- עורר (orer)to cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Hindi उत्तेजित करना, उत्साहित करना
- उत्तेजित करना (uttejit karnā)to stir the emotions of
- उत्साहित करना (utsāhit karnā)to stir the emotions of
Icelandic æsa
- æsato stir the emotions of
Irish ardaigh
- ardaighto stir the emotions of
Italian stimolare, eccitare
- stimolareto stir the emotions of
- eccitareto stir the emotions of
- riaccendereto stir the emotions of
- provocareto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- accendereto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- stimolareto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- eccitareto cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Japanese 興奮させる, 刺激する
- 興奮させる (kōfun saseru)to stir the emotions of
- 刺激する (shigeki suru)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- 活性化させる (kasseika saseru)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- 励起する (reiki suru)to cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Latin commoveō, excitō
- commoveōto stir the emotions of
- excitōto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Māori whakaihiihi, whakawana
- whakaihiihito stir the emotions of
- whakawanato stir the emotions of
- whakakenakenato arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Portuguese animar, empolgar
- animarto stir the emotions of
- empolgarto stir the emotions of
- comoverto stir the emotions of
- provocarto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Romanian excita
- excitato stir the emotions of
Russian волнова́ть, взволнова́ть
- волнова́ть (volnovátʹ)to stir the emotions of
- взволнова́ть (vzvolnovátʹ)to stir the emotions of
- возбужда́ть (vozbuždátʹ)to stir the emotions of
- возбуди́ть (vozbudítʹ)to stir the emotions of
- возбужда́ть (vozbuždátʹ)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- возбуди́ть (vozbudítʹ)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- стимули́ровать (stimulírovatʹ)to arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- возбужда́ть (vozbuždátʹ)to cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
- возбуди́ть (vozbudítʹ)to cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Spanish emocionar, estimular
- emocionarto stir the emotions of
- estimularto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
- excitarto cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Swahili sisimua, sisimua
- sisimuato stir the emotions of
- sisimuato arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Swedish excitera
- exciterato cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state
Turkish heyecanlandırmak, teşvik etmek
- heyecanlandırmakto stir the emotions of
- teşvik etmekto arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with excite
Cite this entry
excite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/excite
“excite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/excite. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “excite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/excite.
Source: excite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.