Meanings
plural thyristors
- businessA semiconductor diode having an extra "gate" terminal to switch it on.
In calling it a "Thyristor", Mr. Warder was following a growing practice which takes account of the fact that in years to come the controlled rectifier may be made of other materials than silicon.
1963 November, “A "Second Generation" in traction”, in Modern Railways, page 2901 more example
Figure 1.4 shows a modern thyristor encapsulated in a presspack housing and Figure 1.5 illustrates a typical interdigitated gate geometry in a high-power thyristor; the black areas indicate silicon ( Si0₂ ) and the white areas the Al metallisation.
1998, J. Arrillaga, High Voltage Direct Current Transmission, page 6
Origin
Blend of thyratron (1930) + transistor (1947). First attested c. 1965, as an alternative name for the Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) developed in the late 1950s.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan tiristor
- tiristorsemiconductor diode
Dutch thyristor
- thyristorsemiconductor diode
Finnish tyristori
- tyristorisemiconductor diode
French thyristor
- thyristorsemiconductor diode
German Thyristor
- Thyristorsemiconductor diode
Romanian tiristor
- tiristorsemiconductor diode
Russian тиристор
- тиристор (tiristor)semiconductor diode
Spanish tiristor
- tiristorsemiconductor diode
Swedish tyristor
- tyristorsemiconductor diode
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with thyristor
Cite this entry
thyristor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thyristor
“thyristor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thyristor. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thyristor,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thyristor.
Source: thyristor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.