receptor

Etymology

From Middle English receptour, from Old French receptour or Latin receptor.

noun

1. (obsolete) One who receives something or someone; in particular, one who harbors a fugitive.
   […] fewe that were there did spend the same daie abowte the searchinge out of sundrye that were receptors of ffelons, where we fownd a greate manye aswell in London, Westminster, Sowthwarke, as in all other places abowte the same. 1585, Fleetwood, in 1824, Henry Ellis, Original letters, illustrative of English history, page 297
   The kind Receptors of the Fugitiues after the Detection. 1609, William Barlow, Answer to a nameless Catholic's censure, page 13
   An act […] Against pyrats, their assistors or abettors, out-traidors or receptors, against breakers of the admirall's arrestments and attachments against goods forbidden, 1660, Virginia statue, The Statutes at Large, Virginia, published 1809, page 538
2. (biochemistry, medicine) A protein on a cell wall that binds with specific molecules so that they can be absorbed into the cell in order to control certain functions.
   In the target organ, the drug is recognised by ‘receptors’. These are large molecules, usually proteins, to which the drug binds tightly and with a high degree of specificity. 2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 24
3. (biology) Any specialized cell or structure that responds to sensory stimuli.