Meanings
nounphotoactivation (usually uncountable, plural photoactivations)
plural photoactivations
- uncountableusuallychemistryThe absorption of energy from a photon in raising a molecule (or chromophore) from the ground state; especially the first stage of photosynthesis in which energy is absorbed by chlorophyll
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
- Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
- Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
- Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
- Ancient Greekφωτο- (phōto-)
- Englishphoto-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
- Proto-Italic*agō
- Latinagō
- Ancient Greekἐνεργητικός (energētikós)
- Latināctīvu
- Old Frenchactif
- Middle Englishactyf
- Englishactive
- Englishactivate
- Englishactivation
- Englishphotoactivation
From photo- + activation.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
photoactivation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photoactivation
MLA
“photoactivation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photoactivation. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “photoactivation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/photoactivation.
Source: photoactivation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.