self-activity

noun

Self-motion or the power of moving one's self or itself without foreign or external aid.

OriginEnglish activity ← Middle French activité ← Latin āctīvitās →
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Meanings

nounself-activity (uncountable)
  1. uncountableSelf-motion or the power of moving one's self or itself without foreign or external aid.

    If it can intrinsically stir itself […] it must have a principle of self-activity which is life and sense.

    1692, Robert Boyle, A Confutation of Atheism from the Structure and Origin of Human Bodies

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  10. Proto-Italic*agō
  11. Latinagō
  12. Ancient Greekἐνεργητικός (energētikós)
  13. Latināctīvus
  14. Latināctīvitās
  15. Middle Frenchactivité
  16. Englishactivity
  17. Englishself-activity

From self- + activity.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: self-activity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.