Wiktionary

active

See also: activé

English

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-eti
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti
Proto-Italic *agō
Latin agō
Proto-Indo-European *-wós
Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder.
Latin -īvus
▲
Ancient Greek ἐνεργητῐκός (energētĭkós)sl.
Latin āctīvusbor.
Old French actifbor.
Middle English actyf
English active

    From Middle English actyf, from Old French actif, from Latin āctīv(us), from agere (“to do, to act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. By surface analysis, act +‎ -ive.

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /ˈæk.tɪv/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -æktɪv
    • Hyphenation: ac‧tive

    Adjective

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    active (comparative more active, superlative most active)

    1. Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting;—opposed to passive, that receives.
      Synonym: acting
      Antonym: passive
      certain active principles
      the active powers of the mind
    2. Quick in physical movement; of an agile and vigorous body; nimble.
      Synonyms: agile, nimble
      Antonyms: passive, indolent, still
      an active child or animal
    3. In action; actually proceeding; working; in force
      Synonyms: in action, working, in force
      Antonyms: quiescent, dormant, extinct
      active laws
      active hostilities
      1. (specifically, of certain geological features, such as volcano, geysers, etc) Emitting hot materials, such as lava, smoke, or steam, or producing tremors.
    4. Given to action; constantly engaged in action; energetic; diligent; busy
      Synonyms: busy, deedful, diligent, energetic
      Antonyms: dull, sluggish, indolent, inert
      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:
        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.
    5. Requiring or implying action or exertion
      Synonym: operative
      Antonyms: passive, tranquil, sedentary
      active employment or service
      active scenes
    6. Given to action rather than contemplation; practical; operative
      Antonyms: theoretical, speculative
      an active rather than a speculative statesman
    7. Brisk; lively.
      an active demand for corn
    8. Implying or producing rapid action.
      Antonyms: passive, slow
      an active disease
      an active remedy
    9. (heading, grammar) About verbs.
      1. Applied to a form of the verb; — opposed to passive. See active voice.
      2. Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive.
      3. Applied to all verbs that express action as distinct from mere existence or state.
    10. (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[1] (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.
    11. (electronics) Not passive.
    12. (gay 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

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    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    • Albanian: aktiv

    Translations

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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

    See also

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    Noun

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    active (plural actives)

    1. 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 […]
    2. (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.

    Further reading

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    Anagrams

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    Asturian

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    Verb

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    active

    1. first-person singular present subjunctive of activar
    2. third-person singular present subjunctive of activar

    French

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    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    active

    1. feminine singular of actif

    Verb

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    active

    1. inflection of activer:
      1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
      2. second-person singular imperative

    Anagrams

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    Galician

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    Verb

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    active

    1. inflection of activar:
      1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
      2. third-person singular imperative

    German

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology 1

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      Borrowed from Latin āctīvē.

      Adverb

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      active

      1. (grammar, obsolete) actively

      Etymology 2

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      Adjective

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      active

      1. inflection of activ:
        1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
        2. strong nominative/accusative plural
        3. weak nominative all-gender singular
        4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

      Interlingua

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      Adjective

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      active (not comparable)

      1. active
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      Latin

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      Etymology 1

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      Adverb

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      āctīvē (comparative āctīvius, superlative āctīvissimē)

      1. (grammar) actively

      Etymology 2

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      Adjective

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      āctīve

      1. vocative masculine singular of āctīvus

      References

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      • “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[2], 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)

      Middle English

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      Adjective

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      active

      1. alternative form of actyf

      Noun

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      active

      1. alternative form of actyf

      Portuguese

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      Verb

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      active

      1. inflection of activar:
        1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
        2. third-person singular imperative

      Romanian

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      Pronunciation

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      Adjective

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      active

      1. nominative/accusative feminine/neuter plural of activ

      Spanish

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      Verb

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      active

      1. inflection of activar:
        1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
        2. third-person singular imperative
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