Carburetor
A carburetor (American and Canadian spelling), carburator, carburettor, or carburetter (Commonwealth spelling) is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes colloquially shortened to carb in North America or carby in Australia. To carburate or carburet (and thus carburation or carburetion, respectively) is to blend the air and fuel or to equip (an engine) with a carburetor for that purpose.
Carburetors have largely been supplanted in the automotive industry by fuel injection. They are still common on small engines for lawn mowers, rototillers, and other equipment.
Etymology
The word carburetor comes from the French carbure meaning "carbide".Carburer means to combine with carbon (compare also carburizing). In fuel chemistry, the term has the more specific meaning of increasing the carbon (and therefore energy) content of a fluid by mixing it with a volatile hydrocarbon.
History and development
The first carburetor was invented by Samuel Morey in 1826.