reactant

R1E1A1C3T1A1N1T1

noun

Any of the participants present at the start of a chemical reaction, specifically one that is consumed during the reaction.

OriginEnglish react ← Middle English acte ← Old French act →
UncommonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounreactant (plural reactants)

plural reactants

  1. chemistryAny of the participants present at the start of a chemical reaction, specifically one that is consumed during the reaction.

Origin

  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. Englishreactant

From react + -ant.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian реагент
  • реагент (reagent)participant at the start of a chemical reaction
Chinese Mandarin 反應物 /反应物
  • 反應物 /反应物 (fǎnyìngwù)participant at the start of a chemical reaction
Finnish reaktantti, lähtöaine
  • reaktanttiparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
  • lähtöaineparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
French réactif
  • réactifparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
German Reaktant, Edukt
  • Reaktantparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
  • Eduktparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
  • Reagenzparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
Hebrew מֵגִיב
  • מֵגִיב (megív)participant at the start of a chemical reaction
Hindi अभिकारक
  • अभिकारक (abhikārak)participant at the start of a chemical reaction
Japanese 試薬, 試剤
  • 試薬 (shiyaku)participant at the start of a chemical reaction
  • 試剤 (shizai)participant at the start of a chemical reaction
Māori pūmatū hohe, pūmatūhope
  • pūmatū hoheparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
  • pūmatūhopeparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
Norwegian Bokmål reaktant
  • reaktantparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
Romanian reactiv, reactant
  • reactivparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
  • reactantparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
Russian реаге́нт, реакти́в
  • реаге́нт (reagént)participant at the start of a chemical reaction
  • реакти́в (reaktív)participant at the start of a chemical reaction
Spanish reactivo
  • reactivoparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
Tagalog kabalibilos
  • kabalibilosparticipant at the start of a chemical reaction
Cite this entry
APA

reactant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reactant

MLA

“reactant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reactant. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reactant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reactant.

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