activity English · revision 2791

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=la agō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ækˈtɪv.ə.ti/, US /ækˈtɪv.ə.t̬i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|actyvete|t=active life]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|activité|t=power of acting]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from [[la-med|āctīvitās|t=activity]] (accusative āctīvitātem), a word of Scholastic philosophy,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) in Late Latin “the active form of a verb”,^(MWU 2024) from [[la|āctīvus|t=active]],^(Etymonline) the source of [[active]], from [[m|la|agere|t=to do, drive]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The active or secular life: about 1400.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The SOED dates the word to late Middle English.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “The state of being active, briskness, liveliness” is from the 1520s^(Etymonline) (1530 in the OED),^(OED 1989) and the general state of being active, the exertion of energy, from 1549.^(OED 1989) The capacity for acting on matter is from the 1540s.^(Etymonline) In the 16th and 17th centuries activity also meant physical exercise or athletics.^(OED 1989) Anything active, an active force or operation, is from 1646.^(OED 1989) An educational exercise, or the projects in a school curriculum, is by 1923.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In science it means the rate of decay of a radioactive substance (1903) and the degree to which a substance, such as an enzyme, shows its characteristic effect (1898).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – the active life.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1530 – briskness, liveliness.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1540s – capacity for acting on matter.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1549 – the state of being active.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1646 – an active force or operation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1898 – the activity of a substance.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1903 – radioactivity.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1923 – a school activity.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The state of being active; energetic action or movement.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A particular pursuit or occupation: ''leisure activities''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An educational exercise designed to teach through experience.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(physics)'' The rate of decay of a [[radioactive]] source.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' The ability of a substance, such as an [[enzyme]], to take part in a reaction.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bioactivity]]

+ * [[hyperactivity]]

+ * [[preactivity]]

+ * [[superactivity]]

+ * [[nonactivity]]

+ * [[radioactivity]]

+ * [[self-activity]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[active]]

+ * [[act]]

+ * [[action]]

+ * [[agent]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}