autocatalysis

A1U1T1O1C3A1T1A1L1Y4S1I1S1

noun

catalysis of a reaction by one of its products

Similar
autoactivation
OriginEnglish catalysis ← Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-) ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew →
Scrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounautocatalysis (uncountable)
  1. uncountablechemistrycatalysis of a reaction by one of its products

    Synonyms: autoactivation

Synonyms & antonyms

nouncatalysis of a reaction by one of its products

Similar
autoactivation
Also see
self-catalysis

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tó-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*autós
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  5. Ancient Greekαὖ (aû)
  6. Ancient Greekτόν (tón)
  7. Ancient Greekαὐτός (autós)
  8. Ancient Greekαὐτο- (auto-)
  9. Englishauto-
  10. Englishcatalysis
  11. Englishautocatalysis

From auto- + catalysis.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan autocatàlisi
  • autocatàlisicatalysis of a reaction by one of its products
Italian autocatalisi
  • autocatalisicatalysis of a reaction by one of its products
Polish autokataliza
  • autokatalizacatalysis of a reaction by one of its products
Spanish autocatálisis
  • autocatálisiscatalysis of a reaction by one of its products
Cite this entry
APA

autocatalysis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autocatalysis

MLA

“autocatalysis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autocatalysis. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “autocatalysis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autocatalysis.

Source: autocatalysis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.