4 syllables: It, er, a, tor. Stress on It.
IT-uh-ray-tuhr
/ˈɪtəˌreɪtər/
Iterator is pronounced IT-uh-ray-tuhr (/ˈɪtəˌreɪtər/). It has four syllables (It-er-a-tor), with the stress on "It". Iterator is a noun referring to an object that enables traversing elements in a collection, often yielding one item at a time. In programming, an iterator encapsulates the state needed to access successive elements without exposing the underlying structure. The term emphasizes sequential access, lazy evaluation, and the ability to be advanced to the next element via a next operation.
nounIterator is a noun referring to an object that enables traversing elements in a collection, often yielding one item at a time. In programming, an iterator encapsulates the state needed to access successive elements without exposing the underlying structure. The term emphasizes sequential access, lazy evaluation, and the ability to be advanced to the next element via a next operation.
"The iterator iterates over the list of users and prints each name."
"An iterator provides a uniform interface for traversing various data structures."
"Using an iterator prevents you from loading the entire collection into memory."
US/UK/AU pronunciation centers on IT-ə-ray-tər or IT-ə-ray-tə in non-rhotic accents. IPA: US /ˈɪtəˌreɪtər/, UK /ˈɪtəˌreɪtə/, AU /ˈɪtəˌreɪtə/. The main stress is on the first syllable. Start with a quick, light 'i' as in sit, then a soft 't' combined with a schwa-like middle, followed by 'rate' with 'ay' as in day, and finish with a soft 'er' or 'ə' depending on accent. To feel onset, say IT-uh-RAY-tuh, then drop the final syllable in quick speech as IT-uh-RAY-tuh.
Common errors include misplacing the stress (saying i-TER-a-tor) and altering the middle vowel quality, turning 'et' into a long 'ee' or 'eh' sound. Another frequent mistake is finishing with a hard 'r' in non-rhotic accents, producing IT-uh-RATE-err instead of IT-uh-RATE-uh. Correct by keeping the primary stress on the first syllable, use a short schwa in the second syllable, and end with a soft or neutral 'ə' /ər depending on your dialect.
US typically preserves strong /ˈɪtəˌreɪtər/ with rhotic final /ɹ/. UK often reduces final r to /ə/; /ˈɪtəˌreɪtə/ with non-rhotic ending. Australian tends toward /ˈɪtəˌreɪtə/ with a slightly flatter vowel in the first syllable and less pronounced final /ə/ or /əɹ/. The middle /əˌreɪ/ is consistent across dialects; the main variation is the treatment of r-coloring at the end and the degree of vowel reduction in the second syllable.
It combines a stressed first syllable with a mid-unstressed second, plus a vowel cluster in the middle (/təˈreɪ/). The 't' followed by a schwa can be challenging to articulate cleanly, and the final /ər/ or /ə/ depends on dialect. People often mispronounce it as IT-er-ATE-or or misplace stress on the second syllable. Focus on the even pace: IT-uh-RAY-tuh with a quick, light tongue-tip contact for the /t/ and a relaxed final /ə/.
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Iterator derives from Latin iterare, meaning to travel or go over again, from iter- 'to go, to march' plus -ator a suffix forming agent nouns. The word passed into Old French and later Middle English via Latin roots. Its current programming sense emerged in the 20th century with the rise of algorithmic data traversal, paralleling ‘enumerator’ and ‘cursor’ terms. The first general usage outside computing historically involved someone who traverses or repeats a process, but in computing the term became standardized to describe a construct that yields elements one by one without exposing the entire collection. Over time, many languages adopted the term or created close cognates (e.g., iterateur in French, iterador in Spanish) while some used language-general terms like enumerator. The concept has remained central to iterative access patterns in software design, with language-specific iterations protocols like Python’s __iter__/__next__, Java’s Iterator interface, and C++’s input iterators developing in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Iterator" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Iterator"
-ter sounds
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