activate
/ˈæktɪveɪt/
verb
Origin
Latin
actus — a doing, an act
Overview
Meaning Now
- To make something active or operative.
- To stimulate a biological or chemical process.
Literal older meaning
to make into an act/doing
Language path
Latin → Late Latin → English
Earliest form
activatus
Earliest period
17th century
Journey
The term originates from the Latin 'agere', which is the ancestor of a massive family of English words related to action, agency, and motion. Its technical use in chemistry and physics (activation energy) became common during the mid-19th century.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*aǵ-
“to drive, draw out or forth, move”
- Latin
agere
“to do, act, perform”
- Latin
activus
“active, pertaining to action”
- Late Latin
activare
“to make active”
- English
activate
“to make operative”
Introduced in the early 17th century, popularized in scientific contexts in the 19th century.
Connections
Word parts
activ-
root
relating to action or movement
-ate
suffix
forms a verb meaning to perform an action
Related across languages
French
activer
to activate, to hurry
Spanish
activar
to activate
Related words
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Related to activate
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.