underactuate

U1N1D2E1R1A1C3T1U1A1T1E1

verb

To make less easily actuated or responsive.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

verbunderactuate (third-person singular simple present underactuates, present participle underactuating, simple past and past participle underactuated)

present singular third person underactuates · participle present underactuating · participle past underactuated · past underactuated

  1. computingTo make less easily actuated or responsive.

    Figure 10 refers to a first design for underactuating the LARM finger mechanism by using a linear spring within the body of phalanx 2, [17].

    2015, Shaoping Bai, Marco Ceccarelli, Recent Advances in Mechanism Design for Robotics, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    The basic idea is to temporarily underactuate the robot system by releasing one of the actuators and to use some additional driving force to guide the parallel kinematic structure through the singularity of type 2.

    2010, Daniel Schütz, Friedrich M. Wahl, Robotic Systems for Handling and Assembly, →ISBN, page 101

    A four-bar mechanism (Fig.2) is used to underactuate the fingers so that they can automatically adapt to the shape and size of the object and be less sensitive to positioning errors of the robot relative to the object to grasp.

    2018, Vigen Arakelian, Philippe Wenger, ROMANSY 22 – Robot Design, Dynamics and Control, →ISBN

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁entér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂én
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-?
  5. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰí
  6. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰér
  7. Proto-Germanic*under
  8. Proto-West Germanic*undar
  9. Old Englishunder-
  10. Middle Englishunder-
  11. Englishunder-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  14. Proto-Italic*agō
  15. Latinagō
  16. Latināctus
  17. Latināctuō
  18. Medieval Latināctuātus
  19. Englishactuate
  20. Englishunderactuate

From under- + actuate.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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