A heating device that warms a room by radiating heat, typically connected to a central heating system.
From Latin 'radiatus,' past participle of 'radiare' (to emit rays), from 'radius' (ray or spoke). The term was first used for the cooling system in early automobiles before being applied to home heating. Interestingly, most 'radiators' actually work primarily through convection, not radiation - they heat air that then circulates. The name stuck despite being technically misleading about how the device actually works.
Radiators are misnamed - they mostly heat through convection (moving air) rather than radiation (direct heat rays), but the name stuck from early car engines. It's one of those technical terms that sounds more scientific than the reality of how the device actually works.
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