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Original · left

Particle accelerator

First in use: c. 1930
Duplicate · right

Startup accelerator

First in use: c. 2005

Accelerator / Particle accelerator / Startup accelerator

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Canonical todayMeasuring…
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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

CERN vs. Y Combinator.

Which meaning of Accelerator is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Particle accelerator came first (c. 1930). Startup accelerator arrived in 2005. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Particle acceleratorStartup accelerator
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

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The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · c. 1930

Particle accelerator

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Duplicate · c. 2005

Startup accelerator

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More duplicated terms

Business & startups