Etymology

reactive

R1E1A1C3T1I1V4E1

Today it means: That reacts or responds to a stimulus. Full definition →

English react ← Middle English acte ← Old French act
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The story

  1. Proto-Italic*wre-
  2. Latinre-
  3. Old Frenchre-
  4. Middle Englishre-
  5. Englishre-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  8. Proto-Italic*agō
  9. Latinagō
  10. Latināctus
  11. Latinācta
  12. Old Frenchact
  13. Middle Englishacte
  14. Englishact
  15. Englishreact
  16. English todayreactive

From react + -ive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.