ˈstimyələs sometimes ÷-məl- noun
( plural stimu·li -ˌlī also -ˌlē)
Etymology: Latin, goad, incentive; akin to Latin stilus stake, stylus — more at style
1. : something that rouses the mind or spirits or incites to activity : incentive
the war proved a stimulus to agriculture, industry, and commerce — American Guide Series: New Jersey
2. : something that produces a temporary increase of physiological activity in an organism or in any of its parts ; especially : an agent (as an environmental change) capable of directly influencing the activity of living protoplasm (as by inducing a tropism, exciting a sensory end organ, or evoking muscular contraction or glandular secretion) — see heterologous stimulus , homologous stimulus