activity

activity

English

Etymology

From Middle French activité, from Latin activitas. Equivalent to active +‎ -ity.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ækˈtɪv.ɪ.tiː/

  • Audio (UK male)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ækˈtɪv.ə.ti/, [ækˈtɪv.ə.t̬i]

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪvɪti

Noun

activity (countable and uncountable, plural activities)

1. (uncountable) The state or quality of being active; activeness.

   Pit row was abuzz with activity.

2. (countable) Something done as an action or a movement.

   The activity for the morning was a walk to the store.

3. (countable) Something done for pleasure or entertainment, especially one involving movement or an excursion.
   • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:

     Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.

   An increasing number of sports activities are on offer at the university.

   Quilting can be an enjoyable activity.

4. (grammar, semantics) The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change over time and have no natural end point.
   • 1997, Robert van Valin and Randy LaPolla, Syntax‎, page 92:

     […] distinctions among states of affairs are reflected to a striking degree in distinctions among Aktionsart types. That is, situations are expressed by state verbs or predicates, events by achievement verbs or predicates, and actions by activity verbs or predicates.

5. (physics) The number of radioactive decays per unit time. Unit for it: becquerel or curie
6. The propery of substances to react with other substances

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:activity

Antonyms

• rest
• passivity

Derived terms

• activity book
• activity stream
• activity theory
• activity trap
• beehive of activity
• catalytic activity
• civic activity
• dark-activity
• displacement activity
• extravehicular activity
• hive of activity
• nonactivity
• optical activity
• overactivity
• photoactivity
• radioactivity
• Raman optical activity
• role activity diagram
• self-activity
• subactivity
• ultrahazardous activity
• underactivity
• zone of polarizing activity

 

Collocations

Adjectives often used with "activity"

increased, decreased, high, low, volcanic, seismic, eruptive, intellectual, physical, mental, spiritual, muscular, cerebral, favorite, recreational, practical, cultural, artistic, literary, musical, political, diplomatic, military, domestic, voluntary, missionary, chemical, optical, productive, reproductive, industrial, commercial, etc.

Translations

state or quality of being active

Albanian: aktivitet (sq) f Arabic: نَشَاط‎ (ar) m (našāṭ) Armenian: գործունեություն (hy) (gorcuneutʿyun) Asturian: actividá f Azerbaijani: fəaliyyət (az), fəallıq, aktivlik Bulgarian: акти́вност (bg) f (aktívnost) Catalan: activitat (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 活動／活动 (zh) (huódòng) Czech: aktivita (cs) f, čilost f Danish: aktivitet c Dutch: activiteit (nl) f, actief (nl) f Esperanto: aktiveco Estonian: aktiivsus Finnish: aktiivisuus (fi), toiminta (fi) French: activité (fr) f Galician: actividade (gl) f Georgian: მოქმედება f (mokmedeba) German: Aktivität (de) f Greek: δραστηριότητα (el) f (drastiriótita) Ancient: ἐνέργεια f (enérgeia) Hebrew: פעילות‎ (he) f (pe‘ilút), מעש‎ (he) m (má`as) (rare) Hungarian: elfoglaltság (hu) Irish: fuadar m Italian: attività (it) f Japanese: 活動 (ja) (かつどう, katsudō) Kazakh: белсенділік (belsendılık) Korean: 활동 (ko) (hwaldong) Kyrgyz: ишмерлик (işmerlik) Latin: actiō (la) f Latvian: aktivitāte f Lithuanian: aktyvùmas m Malay: kegiatan, aktiviti (Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei), aktivitas (Riau and Sumatra) Malayalam: പ്രവർത്തനം (ml) (pravaṟttanaṃ) Maori: ngohe, hohenga Norwegian: Bokmål: aktivitet (no) m, virksomhet (no) m or f Nynorsk: aktivitet m Persian: فعالیت‎ (fa) (fa'âliyat) Polish: aktywność (pl) f Portuguese: atividade (pt) f Romanian: activitate (ro) f Russian: де́ятельность (ru) f (déjatelʹnostʹ), акти́вность (ru) f (aktívnostʹ) Sardinian: Logudorese: faìna Slovak: aktivita f, ruch m Slovene: aktívnost f, dejávnost (sl) f Spanish: actividad (es) f Swedish: aktivitet (sv) c, verksamhet (sv) c Tagalog: kabilusan Turkish: aktivite (tr) Ukrainian: дія́льність (uk) f (dijálʹnistʹ), акти́вність (uk) f (aktývnistʹ) Vietnamese: hoạt động (vi)

something done as an action or a movement

Armenian: գործունեություն (hy) (gorcuneutʿyun) Asturian: actividá f Bulgarian: де́йност (bg) f (déjnost) Catalan: activitat (ca) f Central Mazahua: b'ɇpji Chinese: Mandarin: 動作／动作 (zh) (dòngzuò) Czech: činnost (cs) f Danish: aktivitet c Dutch: activiteit (nl) f, beweging (nl) f, werkzaamheid (nl) f Egyptian: (st-ꜥ f) Estonian: tegevus Finnish: aktiviteetti (fi), tekeminen (fi), toiminta (fi) French: activité (fr) f Galician: actividade (gl) f Georgian: აქტიურობა f (akṭiuroba) German: Aktivität (de) f, Handlung (de) f, Tätigkeit (de) f Greek: δράση (el) f (drási) Ancient: ἐνέργεια f (enérgeia) Hebrew: פעילות‎ (he) f (pe‘ilút) Hungarian: tevékenység (hu) Indonesian: kegiatan (id), aktivitas (id) Italian: attività (it) f Japanese: 活動 (ja) (かつどう, katsudō) Malay: kegiatan, aktiviti (Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei), aktivitas (Riau and Sumatra) Malayalam: പ്രയോഗം (ml) (prayōgaṃ), പ്രവൃത്തി (ml) (pravr̥tti) Maltese: attività f Norwegian: Bokmål: aktivitet (no) m Nynorsk: aktivitet m Polish: aktywność (pl) f Portuguese: atividade (pt) f Romanian: activitate (ro) f Russian: де́йствие (ru) f (déjstvije), мероприя́тие (ru) f (meroprijátije), де́ло (ru) f (délo) Sanskrit: प्रयोगः (sa) m (prayogaḥ) Sardinian: Logudorese: faìna Scots: acteevity Scottish Gaelic: gnìomhachd f Semai: ektiviti, ektiviti Slovak: činnosť f, aktivita f Slovene: aktívnost f, dejávnost (sl) f Spanish: actividad (es) f Swedish: aktivitet (sv) c, sysselsättning (sv) Thai: การเคลื่อนไหว (th) (gaan-klʉ̂ʉan-wǎi) Tigrinya: ንጥፈት (nəṭfät) Ukrainian: акти́вність (uk) f (aktývnistʹ), дія́льність (uk) f (dijálʹnistʹ) Welsh: gweithgaredd (cy) m

something done for pleasure or entertainment

Bulgarian: акти́вност (bg) f (aktívnost) Chinese: Mandarin: (please verify) 活動／活动 (zh) (huódòng) Czech: aktivita (cs) f Danish: aktivitet c Dutch: activiteit (nl) f Finnish: aktiviteetti (fi), toiminta (fi), tekeminen (fi) French: activité (fr) f Galician: actividade (gl) f German: Aktivität (de) f, Unternehmung (de) f Greek: δραστηριότητα (el) f (drastiriótita) Hebrew: פעילות‎ (he) f (pe‘ilút) Indonesian: kegiatan (id), aktivitas (id) Italian: attività (it) f, svago (it) m Japanese: 活動 (ja) (かつどう, katsudō) Malayalam: പ്രവൃത്തി (ml) (pravr̥tti) Maltese: attività f Norwegian: Bokmål: aktivitet (no) m Nynorsk: aktivitet m Polish: działalność (pl) f Portuguese: atividade (pt) f Romanian: activitate (ro) f Russian: де́ло (ru) f (délo), заня́тие (ru) f (zanjátije) Sardinian: Logudorese: faìna Scots: acteevity Scottish Gaelic: spòrs f, gnìomhachd f Slovak: aktivita f, koníček m, záľuba f Spanish: actividad (es) f Swedish: aktivitet (sv) c, sysselsättning (sv) c Thai: กิจกรรม (th) (gìtjàgam) Turkish: aktivite (tr) Ukrainian: дія́льність (uk) f (dijálʹnistʹ)

Translations

French: activité (fr) German: Aktivität (de) Italian: attività (it) Portuguese: actividade (pt) Spanish: actividad (es)

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

Interlingua: (please verify) activitate Irish: (please verify) gníomhaíocht f Japanese: (please verify) アクティビティー (akutibitī) Norman: (please verify) tinné m (Jersey) Volapük: (please verify) dunöf

Further reading

• activity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• activity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911