active (adj.)

mid-14c., actif, active, "given to worldly activity" (opposed to contemplative or monastic), from Old French actif (12c.) and directly from Latin activus, from actus "a doing" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move").

As "capable of acting" (opposed to passive), from late 14c. Meaning "energetic, lively" is from 1590s; that of "working, effective, in operation" (opposed to inactive) is from 1640s. The grammatical active voice is recorded from 1765; grammatical use of active, signifying performance and not endurance of an action, dates from mid-15c. (opposed to passive or reflexive).

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to active

activate (v.)

1620s, "make active, intensify;" see active + -ate (2). Meaning "put into action" is from 1902, originally in chemistry. Related: Activated; activating.

actively (adv.)

c. 1400, actifli, activeli, "secularly," from active + -ly (2). Meaning "vigorously" is early 15c.

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Trends of active

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activity

c. 1400, "active or secular life," from Old French activité, from Medieval Latin activitatem (nominative activitas), a word in Scholastic philosophy, from Latin activus "active" (see active). The meaning "state of being active, briskness, liveliness" is recorded from 1520s; that

passive

late 14c., passif, of matter, "capable of being acted upon;" of persons, "receptive;" also in the grammatical sense "expressive of being affected by some action" (opposed to active), from Old French passif "suffering, undergoing hardship" (14c.) and directly from Latin passivus "

dormant

late 14c., "fixed in place," from Old French dormant (12c.), present participle of dormir "to sleep," from Latin dormire "to sleep," from PIE root *drem- "to sleep" (source also of Old Church Slavonic dremati "to sleep, doze," Greek edrathon "I slept," Sanskrit drati "sleeps"). M

efficient

late 14c., "making, producing immediate effect, active, effective," from Old French efficient and directly from Latin efficientem...(nominative efficiens) "effective, efficient, producing, active," present participle of efficere "work out, accomplish,"...

conscious

Sense of "active and awake, endowed with active mental faculties" is from 1837. Related: Consciously....

vegetable

from Late Latin vegetabilis "animating, enlivening," from Latin vegetare "to enliven," from vegetus "vigorous, enlivened, active..., sprightly," from vegere "to be alive, active, to quicken," from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively."...

busy

Often in a bad sense in early Modern English, "prying, meddlesome, active in that which does not concern one" (preserved...The word was a euphemism for "sexually active" in 17c. Of telephone lines, 1884....

alive

c. 1200, "in life, living," contraction of Old English on life "in living, not dead," from a- (1) + dative of lif "life" (see life). The full form on live was still current 17c. Of abstract things (love, lawsuits, etc.) "in a state of operation, unextinguished," c. 1600. From 170

individual

early 15c., "one and indivisible, inseparable" (with reference to the Trinity), from Medieval Latin individualis, from Latin individuus "indivisible," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + dividuus "divisible," from dividere "divide" (see divide (v.)). Original sense now ob

mortal

late 14c., "deadly, destructive to life; causing or threatening death" (of illness, poisons, wounds, etc.); also, of persons or the body, "doomed to die, subject to death;" from Old French mortel "destined to die; deserving of death" and directly from Latin mortalis "subject to d

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updated on September 15, 2022

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Dictionary entries near active

actino-

action

actionable

activate

activation

active

actively

activeness

activism

activist

activities