active
See also: activé
English
Etymology
From Middle English actyf, from Old French actif, from Latin activus, from agere (“to do, to act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti.
Morphologically act + -ive.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈæk.tɪv/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æktɪv
Adjective
active (comparative more active, superlative most active)
- Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting;—opposed to passive, that receives.
- certain active principles
- the active powers of the mind
- Synonym: acting
- Antonym: passive
- Quick in physical movement; of an agile and vigorous body; nimble.
- an active child or animal
- Synonyms: agile, nimble
- Antonyms: passive, indolent, still
- In action; actually proceeding; working; in force
- active laws
- active hostilities
- Synonyms: in action, working, in force
- Antonyms: quiescent, dormant, extinct
- (specifically, of certain geological features, such as volcano, geysers, etc) Emitting hot materials, such as lava, smoke, or steam, or producing tremors.
- Given to action; constantly engaged in action; energetic; diligent; busy
- an active man of business
- active mind
- active zeal
- 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314:
- This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. […] He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.
- Synonyms: busy, deedful, diligent, energetic
- Antonyms: dull, sluggish, indolent, inert
- Requiring or implying action or exertion
- active employment or service
- active scenes
- Synonym: operative
- Antonyms: passive, tranquil, sedentary
- Given to action rather than contemplation; practical; operative
- an active rather than a speculative statesman
- Antonyms: theoretical, speculative
- Brisk; lively.
- an active demand for corn
- Implying or producing rapid action.
- an active disease
- an active remedy
- Antonyms: passive, slow
- (heading, grammar) About verbs.
- Applied to a form of the verb; — opposed to passive. See active voice.
- Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive.
- Applied to all verbs that express action as distinct from mere existence or state.
- (computing, of source code) Eligible to be processed by a compiler or interpreter.
- 2006 December 24, David Williams, “satellite program”, in comp.lang.basic.visual.misc, Usenet:
- I think it should be upgraded to Visual BASIC, but I'm no good at that. So maybe someone here would like to take a crack at it. There are only 40 lines of active code, plus a few REMs. About 100 BASIC commands altogether.
- 2012, Chris Grover, “Triggering Actions”, in Adobe Edge Preview 5: The Missing Manual, 3rd edition, Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 98:
- Edge uses green text for comments. This makes it easier for you to quickly differentiate between active code and comments.
-
- (electronics) Not passive.
- (gay sexual slang) (of a homosexual man) enjoying a role in anal sex in which he penetrates, rather than being penetrated by his partner.
- Synonym: top
- Antonyms: passive, bottom
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:active
Derived terms
- active couple
- active dry yeast
- active duty
- active euthanasia
- active fault
- active front
- active galactic nucleus
- active galaxy
- active gravitational mass
- active ingredient
- active learning
- active listening
- actively
- active material
- active matrix
- active participle
- active photolocation
- active power
- active radicalization
- active service
- active shooter
- active solar
- active transport
- active vocabulary
- active voice
- active volcano
- cloud-active
- French active
- Greek active
- mucoactive
- optically active
- proactive
- pseudoactive
- radioactive
- retroactive
- semiactive
- surface-active
Related terms
- act
Descendants
- Albanian: aktiv
Translations
having the quality or power of acting
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quick in physical movement
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in action
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given to action
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requiring or implying action or exertion
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given to action rather than contemplation
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brisk; lively
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in grammar
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- versatile (in relation to sense 10)
Noun
active (plural actives)
- A person or thing that is acting or capable of acting.
- 1989, The Alcalde (volume 78, number 2, page 11)
- "Alumni could become more active in giving guidance and leadership to students. They act as sort of a 'maturity governor' on fraternities," notes Ratliff, citing surveys suggesting that fraternity actives presume mistakenly that alumni want hazing […]
- 1989, The Alcalde (volume 78, number 2, page 11)
- (electronics) Any component that is not passive. See Passivity (engineering).
- 2013, David Manners, Hitchhikers' Guide to Electronics in the '90s (page 36)
- Components are split into two broad segments: actives and passives. Active components like the vacuum tube and the transistor contain the power to generate and alter electrical signals.
- 2013, David Manners, Hitchhikers' Guide to Electronics in the '90s (page 36)
Further reading
- active in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- active in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Anagrams
- Cavite
Asturian
Verb
active
- first-person singular present subjunctive of activar
- third-person singular present subjunctive of activar
French
Pronunciation
Audio (CAN) (file)
Adjective
active
- feminine singular of actif
Verb
active
- inflection of activer:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Anagrams
- cavité
German
Alternative forms
- aktive
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin āctīvē.
Adverb
active
- (grammar, obsolete) actively
Adjective
active
- inflection of activ:
- strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
- strong nominative/accusative plural
- weak nominative all-gender singular
- weak accusative feminine/neuter singular
Interlingua
Adjective
active (not comparable)
- active
Related terms
- action
- activitate
Latin
Adverb
āctīvē (comparative āctīvius, superlative āctīvissimē)
- (grammar) actively
Adjective
āctīve
- vocative masculine singular of āctīvus
References
- “active”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- active in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) to put the finishing touch to a work: extrema manus accēdit operi (active extremam manum imponere operi)
- (ambiguous) to be some one's favourite: in amore et deliciis esse alicui (active in deliciis habere aliquem)
- (ambiguous) to put the finishing touch to a work: extrema manus accēdit operi (active extremam manum imponere operi)
Middle English
Adjective
active
- Alternative form of actyf
Noun
active
- Alternative form of actyf
Portuguese
Verb
active
- inflection of activar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [akˈti.ve]
Adjective
active
- nominative/accusative feminine/neuter plural of activ
Spanish
Verb
active
- inflection of activar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative