Etymology

active

ac·tive
A1C3T1I1V4E1

Today it means: Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting;—opposed to passive, that receives. Full definition →

Middle English actyf ← Old French actif ← Latin āctīvu
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  3. Proto-Italic*agō
  4. Latinagō
  5. Ancient Greekἐνεργητικός (energētikós)
  6. Latināctīvu
  7. Old Frenchactif
  8. Middle Englishactyf
  9. English todayactive

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.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti all →

actionactactualobjurgate

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.