Meanings
verbactivate (third-person singular simple present activates, present participle activating, simple past and past participle activated)
present singular third person activates · participle present activating · participle past activated · past activated
- transitivenatural sciencesTo render a substance radioactive.
- transitivechemistryTo hasten a chemical reaction, especially by heating.
- transitivecomputingTo remove the limitations of demoware by providing a license; to unlock.
- transitiveTo aerate in order to aid decomposition of organic matter.
- transitivehobbiesTo bring a player back after an injury.
- intransitiveTo enter an active state.
The burglar alarm activates automatically.
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
verbput in motion or move to act
verbaerate (sewage) so as to favor the growth of organisms that decompose organic matter
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
- Proto-Italic*agō
- Latinagō
- Ancient Greekἐνεργητικός (energētikós)
- Latināctīvu
- Old Frenchactif
- Middle Englishactyf
- Englishactive
- Englishactivate
Translations
Arabic فَعَّلَ
- فَعَّلَ (faʕʕala)to put into operation
Basque aktibatu
- aktibatuto put into operation
Bengali সক্রিয় করা
- সক্রিয় করা (śokriẏo kora)to put into operation
Bulgarian пускам, активирам
- пускам (puskam)to put into operation
- активирам (aktiviram)to put into operation
Catalan activar
- activarto put into operation
Chinese Mandarin 激活
- 激活 (jīhuó)to put into operation
Danish aktivere
- aktivereto put into operation
Dutch activeren, aanzetten
- activerento put into operation
- aanzettento put into operation
- inschakelento put into operation
Esperanto aktivigi
- aktivigito put into operation
Estonian rakendama
- rakendamato put into operation
Finnish aktivoida, käynnistää
- aktivoidato put into operation
- käynnistääto put into operation
French actionner, activer
- actionnerto put into operation
- activerto put into operation
German aktivieren, freischalten
- aktivierento put into operation
- freischaltento put into operation
Greek ενεργοποιώ
- ενεργοποιώ (energopoió)to put into operation
Hungarian aktivál, működésbe hoz
- aktiválto put into operation
- működésbe hozto put into operation
Indonesian mengaktifkan
- mengaktifkanto put into operation
Māori whakahohe, whakaharuru
- whakahoheto put into operation
- whakaharuruto put into operation
Norwegian Bokmål aktivere, aktivisere
- aktivereto put into operation
- aktivisereto put into operation
Persian انجامیدن, فعال کردن
- انجامیدن (anjâmidan)to put into operation
- فعال کردن (faâl kardan)to put into operation
- کنشور کردن (konešvar kardan)to put into operation
- کاری کردن (kâri kardan)to put into operation
- کناییدن (konāyidan)to put into operation
Polish aktywować, uaktywniać
- aktywowaćto put into operation
- uaktywniaćto put into operation
- uaktywnićto put into operation
Portuguese ativar
- ativarto put into operation
Romanian activa
- activato put into operation
Russian активизи́ровать, активи́ровать
- активизи́ровать (aktivizírovatʹ)to put into operation
- активи́ровать (aktivírovatʹ)to put into operation
- приводи́ть в де́йствие (privodítʹ v déjstvije)to put into operation
- привести́ в де́йствие (privestí v déjstvije)to put into operation
- включа́ть (vključátʹ)to put into operation
- включи́ть (vključítʹ)to put into operation
Spanish activar
- activarto put into operation
Swedish aktivera
- aktiverato put into operation
Turkish etkinleştirmek
- etkinleştirmekto put into operation
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
activate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/activate
MLA
“activate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/activate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “activate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/activate.
Source: activate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.