activate

activate
activate, actuate
Activate (17c) originally meant ‘to make active’ (as in activate the lungs). It fell out of use for a time at the end of the 19c, and was marked as obsolete in the first OED. New uses in physics, chemistry, and other branches of science have brought it back into prominence and actuate (also 17c in current meanings), once dominant, is now in decline (under 500 in the OEC). Activate (over 10,000 in the OEC) is the normal word in mechanical contexts such as burglar alarms, traffic lights, flight plans, and also occasionally in the context of human behaviour, where the choice is perhaps influenced by motivate (e.g. Are they activated by concern for public morality?). Actuate, which has a much higher proportion of passive uses with by than does activate, is less common in physical and mechanical contexts, and is generally restricted to less appealing abstract qualities such as anger, greed, jealousy, malice, etc.

• (His opposition was actuated by a different and more compelling motive than that of her other relatives —David Cecil, 1948

• the real objects that actuate our sentiments and passions —BrE source, 2000 [OEC].


Modern English usage. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Activate — Жанр Евродэнс Годы 1993 1996 Страна …   Википедия

  • Activate — is a student newspaper at Rhodes University. It was established in 1947 as Rhodeo , and during apartheid became an active part of the struggle for freedom of expression as part of the now defunct South African Student Press Union [… …   Wikipedia

  • activate — 1 energize, *vitalize Analogous words: animate, vivify, *quicken, enliven: *stir, rouse, arouse, rally, awaken Antonyms: arrest 2 Activate, actuate, motivate are sometimes confused when used with reference to persons and the motives which govern… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Activate — Ac ti*vate, v. t. To make active. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • activate — I verb accelerate, actuate, animate, boost, drive, empower, energize, enliven, excite, excite to action, impel, initiate, intensify, launch, maintain, motivate, originate, prompt, quicken, step up, stimulate, stir, urge II index empower, launch… …   Law dictionary

  • activate — (v.) 1620s; see ACTIVE (Cf. active) + ATE (Cf. ate) (2). Related: Activated; activating …   Etymology dictionary

  • activate — [v] initiate something; start a function actify, actuate, arouse, call up, energize, impel, mobilize, motivate, move, prompt, propel, rouse, set in motion, start, stimulate, stir, switch on, take out of mothballs*, trigger, turn on; concept 234… …   New thesaurus

  • activate — ► VERB 1) make active or operative. 2) convert (a substance, molecule, etc.) into a reactive form. DERIVATIVES activation noun activator noun …   English terms dictionary

  • activate — [ak′tə vāt΄] vt. activated, activating 1. to make active; cause to engage in activity 2. to put (an inactive military unit) on an active status by assigning personnel, equipment, etc. to it 3. to make radioactive 4. to make capable of reacting or …   English World dictionary

  • Activate — Chartplatzierungen Erklärung der Daten Singles Save Me   DE 25 13.02.1995 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”