active

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See also: activé

English

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Etymology

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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

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

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.
    certain active principles
    the active powers of the mind
    Synonym: acting
    Antonym: passive
  2. Quick in physical movement; of an agile and vigorous body; nimble.
    an active child or animal
    Synonyms: agile, nimble
    Antonyms: passive, indolent, still
  3. In action; actually proceeding; working; in force
    active laws
    active hostilities
    Synonyms: in action, working, in force
    Antonyms: quiescent, dormant, extinct
    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
    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.
    Synonyms: busy, deedful, diligent, energetic
    Antonyms: dull, sluggish, indolent, inert
  5. Requiring or implying action or exertion
    active employment or service
    active scenes
    Synonym: operative
    Antonyms: passive, tranquil, sedentary
  6. Given to action rather than contemplation; practical; operative
    an active rather than a speculative statesman
    Antonyms: theoretical, speculative
  7. Brisk; lively.
    an active demand for corn
  8. Implying or producing rapid action.
    an active disease
    an active remedy
    Antonyms: passive, slow
  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 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

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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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