react

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹiːˈækt/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from re- and act,^[2][3][4] originally suggested by Medieval Latin react-, the past participle stem of reagere, to do again.^[5][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To exert an opposite action on the agent acting upon it: 1644 in the OED and MWU, the 1640s in Etymonline.^[7][6][2]

Semantic evolution

To act in response to a stimulus is from 1656.^[7][3] In chemistry, of reagents, it is from 1797,^[7] and to act in opposition to a force from 1861.^[7] To move or tend in a reverse direction is from 1875.^[7][3] The separate re-act, to perform again, with the full prefix, is from the 1650s.^[2] Reaction is 17th-century, and reactionary 19th-century.^[3]

Timeline

• 1644 – to act in return.^[7]
• 1656 – to respond to a stimulus.^[7]
• 1797 – in chemistry.^[7]
• 1861 – to act against a force.^[7]
• 1875 – to tend backwards.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To act or behave in response to something.
2. To respond badly to a substance such as a drug.
3. (chemistry) To undergo a chemical reaction.
4. (react against) To act in opposition to something.

Word family

• overreact
• reactance
• reactant
• underreact
• reactive
• reactor

Related words

• reaction
• reactionary
• act
• agent

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press