Meanings
nouncatalyst (plural catalysts)
plural catalysts
- encouragesSomething that encourages progress or change.
(obsolete)
5 more examples
Economic development and integration are working as a catalyst for peace.
It was a morning baptized by my first cup of coffee, freshly brewed over a gravel-bar fire, while they celebrated with the stronger catalyst of sour-mash whiskey in their fishing-vest cups.
1978, Ernest George Schwiebert, Trout, volume 2Israel's fear for the reactor—rather than Egypt's of it—was the greater catalyst for war.
2004, Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the making of the modern Middle East, page 76Rosa Parks was a true catalyst for change and she was only one person. Hearing about Rosa Parks and her protest showed me that there is hope for me and all the students in Ms. G's classes to truly be catalysts for change.
2006, The Freedom Writers, with Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, Diary 74He [countertenor Anthony Roth Constanzo] also enjoys being the catalyst whereby opera fertilises other art forms: recently, he's collaborated with Japanese kabuki actors, and a project with dancers from New York City Ballet is in the offing.
2014 August 8, Rupert Christiansen, “The truth about falsettos [print version: 12 August 2014, p. R8]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)Synonyms: stimulus, straw that stirs the drink, solicitor · Antonyms: inhibitor, dampener
- literatureAn inciting incident that sets the successive conflict into motion.
The current view by both Labour and Conservative politicians is that the state of the UK railway is unsustainable, and the pandemic acted as a catalyst in exposing its weaknesses.
2023 May 31, Tammy Samuel, Fergus McLaverty, “The political picture: what lies ahead for Britain's railways?”, in RAIL, number 984, page 31 - automotiveA catalytic converter.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomething that encourages progress or change.
More synonyms by meaning
noun(chemistry) a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected
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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic حَفَّاز
- حَفَّاز (ḥaffāz)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Bulgarian катализа́тор, катализа́тор
- катализа́тор (katalizátor)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- катализа́тор (katalizátor)something that encourages progress or change
Catalan catalitzador, catalitzador
- catalitzadorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- catalitzadorsomething that encourages progress or change
Chinese Mandarin 觸媒 /触媒, 催化劑 /催化剂
- 觸媒 /触媒 (chùméi)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- 催化劑 /催化剂 (cuīhuàjì)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Czech katalyzátor, katalyzátor
- katalyzátorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalyzátorsomething that encourages progress or change
Danish katalysator
- katalysatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Dutch katalysator
- katalysatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Esperanto katalizilo
- katalizilosubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Estonian katalüsaator
- katalüsaatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Finnish katalyytti, katalysaattori
- katalyyttisubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalysaattorisomething that encourages progress or change
- katalyyttisomething that encourages progress or change
French catalyseur, catalyseur
- catalyseursubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- catalyseursomething that encourages progress or change
- fermentsomething that encourages progress or change
- démiurgesomething that encourages progress or change
- électron libresomething that encourages progress or change
- levainsomething that encourages progress or change
- agitateursomething that encourages progress or change
- enzymesomething that encourages progress or change
German Katalysator
- Katalysatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Greek καταλύτης, καταλύτης
- καταλύτης (katalýtis)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- καταλύτης (katalýtis)something that encourages progress or change
Hebrew זָרָז, קָטָלִיזָטוֹר
- זָרָז (zaráz)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- קָטָלִיזָטוֹר (katalizatór)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Hindi उत्प्रेरक
- उत्प्रेरक (utprerak)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Hungarian katalizátor, katalizátor
- katalizátorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalizátorsomething that encourages progress or change
Icelandic efnahvati, hvati
- efnahvatisubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- hvatisubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Indonesian katalis, katalisator
- katalissubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalisatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalisatorsomething that encourages progress or change
Italian catalizzatore, catalizzatore
- catalizzatoresubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- catalizzatoresomething that encourages progress or change
Japanese 触媒
- 触媒 (shokubai)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Korean 촉매
- 촉매 (chongmae)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Latvian katalizators
- katalizatorssubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Malay mangkin, katalis
- mangkinsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalissubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalisatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Māori whākōkī
- whākōkīsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Norwegian Bokmål katalysator, katalysator
- katalysatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalysatorsomething that encourages progress or change
Persian کاتالیزگر
- کاتالیزگر (kâtâlizgar)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Polish katalizator, katalizator
- katalizatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- katalizatorsomething that encourages progress or change
Portuguese catalisador, catalisador
- catalisadorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- catalisadorsomething that encourages progress or change
Romanian catalizator, catalizator
- catalizatorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- catalizatorsomething that encourages progress or change
Russian катализа́тор, катализа́тор
- катализа́тор (katalizátor)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- катализа́тор (katalizátor)something that encourages progress or change
Spanish catalizador, catalizador
- catalizadorsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- catalizadorsomething that encourages progress or change
- fermentosomething that encourages progress or change
- levadurasomething that encourages progress or change
- agitadorsomething that encourages progress or change
- demiurgosomething that encourages progress or change
- enzimasomething that encourages progress or change
Tagalog pangganapbilos
- pangganapbilossubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Thai ตัวเร่ง, ตัวเร่ง
- ตัวเร่ง (dtuua-rêng)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- ตัวเร่ง (dtuua-rêng)something that encourages progress or change
Turkish katalizör, tezgen
- katalizörsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- tezgensubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- ivdirgensubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Ukrainian каталіза́тор, каталіза́тор
- каталіза́тор (katalizátor)substance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
- каталіза́тор (katalizátor)something that encourages progress or change
Vietnamese chất xúc tác
- chất xúc tácsubstance which increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process
Cite this entry
APA
catalyst. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catalyst
MLA
“catalyst.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catalyst. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “catalyst,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catalyst.
Source: catalyst on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.