adapter or adaptor:

Language Usage: Though most grammarians agree that either spelling can be used for both the person who adapts and the device that adapts, there are some grammarians and dictionaries that suggest that the spelling ‘adapter’ is used for a person who adapts and the spelling ‘adapter’ or ‘adaptor’ is used for a device that adapts,

a couple of samples:

#4 17th May 2006, 06:44 AM

Joelline Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: USA (W. Pennsylvania) Native language: American English Posts: 4,638

Re: Adaptor vs. Adapter Miss Judi, I would have agreed with your initial definitions. But, I just looked up both words in 3 different dictionaries (not believing the first 2!).  Your Wiki definition is absolutely correct. For the device, one can use either adaptor or adapter. BUT, for the person, the human being who adapts a novel into a filmscript or a a musician who adapts a composition for particular voices or instruments or for another style of performance, the only acceptable spelling is adapter (which is completely counter-intuitive). I would have bet that, like sculptor and actor, the -or ending suggested a person. But, instead, it appears to follow the “painter” model! Who knew?

[or please visit: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=151674 for different opinions.]

 

And, according to Wikipedia: “Both spellings are used in both British and American English. According to all major US dictionaries (listed first below) the spelling adapter is more common in American English. Only a few UK dictionaries (listed below) consider adapter more common, most UK dictionaries – including Chambers, Collins and the OED – list adaptor first.”

[or visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adapter.]

regent

a person who governs (takes care of the administrative responsibilities) in place of a king or ruling queen when he or she is not able to do so, because of illness or absence or because he/she is still a child;
(old usage) a senior member of staff or an administrator of a university;
(in American and Canadian usage) a member of the board that manages a college or school,

refugee:

(plural: ‘refugees‘; pronunciation: the letter ‘g’ is said with a ‘j’ sound as in “judge”)

refugees fleeing their homes

a person who leaves/runs away from his/her native land/country to another place or foreign country for safety in times of war, religious or political troubles, and is unwilling or unable to return to his/her own home later; an exile; an asylum seeker;

a person who is forced to leave his/her home town in order to escape danger or trouble because of some natural disaster or political disturbance; a displaced person,

refugees at a refugee camp

reformer:

(also ‘social reformer‘, ‘reformist‘, ‘crusader‘; plural: ‘reformers‘)

a person who wants and tries to bring about changes in social, religious and political systems, usually questioning and challenging the age-old traditions and beliefs and suggesting more useful and suitable methods, to make the lives of ordinary people better,

refiner:

(plural: ‘refiners‘)

a person whose job is to refine something;

a person who operates some machine or device, also called a ‘refiner’, that is used in refining something,

referee:

(plural: ‘referees‘)

(in sports) (also in short: ‘ref‘) a person who knows the rules and regulations of a sport and who supervises and decides which player is right and which player is wrong, who got a point and when to begin or stop a game; an umpire;

(in general) a person who is asked or referred to for his/her opinion, decision, etc. in disputes in which two or more parties are involved;

(in law) a lawyer/attorney who is appointed by a court of law to find out the truth about someone or something by inquiring or investigating and to make a report on them; an arbitrator;

(less commonly) a person whose job is to read a story or novel and to decide whether the story is good for publication; a reviewer; a reader,

[For an interesting article on 'court referee', you may visit: http://www.emmetcounty.org/circuit-court-referee-442/.]

Red Indian:

(also ‘Native American‘, ‘American Indian‘, ‘Indian‘; plural: ‘Red Indians‘)

a person belonging to the native people living in North America when the settlers from Europe arrived there,

redhead:

(also ‘ginger‘, ‘carrottop‘, ‘titian‘, ‘redheader‘; plural: ‘redheads‘; pronunciation: ‘red … head’)

a person with natural red hair on his/her head (not exactly ‘red’ but ‘burnt orange’ to ‘copper’ colour),

redcoat:

(also ‘lobsterback‘; plural: ‘redcoats‘; pronunciation: ‘red … coat’)

(in the past — between 17th and 20th centuries) a British soldier, especially a British soldier in active service during the American Revolution,

M.P.:

(short form for: ‘Military Police’ & ‘Member of Parliament‘; plural: a group word — not used in plural form — ‘military policemen or military police women; however, there are occasions where this expression is used in plural form — MP‘s)

all the police officers in the military of a country, who look after the law & order, crime and the traffic system in the military office areas, military camps, military training centres, military barracks, etc.;

(in Britain) also redcaps,

e.g.

The M.P. have no power outside the military area, except, of course, during national disasters, where the local police takeover the duty of keeping the law & order, crime and the traffic system, and the local police have no authority to arrest any soldier in active service.

These days there are more number of women M.P’s. in Armed Forces of most the countries.

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