activity
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle French activité, from Latin activitas. Equivalent to active + -ity.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /ækˈtɪv.ɪ.tiː/
Audio (UK male) (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ækˈtɪv.ə.ti/, [ækˈtɪv.ə.t̬i]
Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɪvɪti
Noun[edit]
activity (countable and uncountable, plural activities)
- (uncountable) The state or quality of being active; activeness.
- Pit row was abuzz with activity.
- (countable) Something done as an action or a movement.
- The activity for the morning was a walk to the store.
- (countable) Something done for pleasure or entertainment, especially one involving movement or an excursion.
- 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
- Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
- An increasing number of sports activities are on offer at the university.
- Quilting can be an enjoyable activity.
- (grammar, semantics) The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change over time and have no natural end point.
- 1997, Robert van Valin and Randy LaPolla, Syntax[1], page 92:
- […] distinctions among states of affairs are reflected to a striking degree in distinctions among Aktionsart types. That is, situations are expressed by state verbs or predicates, events by achievement verbs or predicates, and actions by activity verbs or predicates.
- (physics) The number of radioactive decays per unit time. Unit for it: becquerel or curie
- The propery of substances to react with other substances
Usage notes[edit]
- Adjectives often used with "activity": increased, decreased, high, low, volcanic, seismic, eruptive, intellectual, physical, mental, spiritual, muscular, cerebral, favorite, recreational, practical, cultural, artistic, literary, musical, political, diplomatic, military, domestic, voluntary, missionary, chemical, optical, productive, reproductive, industrial, commercial, etc.
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Thesaurus:activity
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- activity book
- activity stream
- activity theory
- activity trap
- beehive of activity
- catalytic activity
- civic activity
- dark-activity
- displacement activity
- extravehicular activity
- hive of activity
- nonactivity
- optical activity
- overactivity
- photoactivity
- radioactivity
- Raman optical activity
- role activity diagram
- self-activity
- subactivity
- ultrahazardous activity
- underactivity
- zone of polarizing activity
Translations[edit]
state or quality of being active
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something done as an action or a movement
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something done for pleasure or entertainment
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Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Further reading[edit]
- activity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- activity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Middle French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms suffixed with -ity
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪvɪti
- Rhymes:English/ɪvɪti/4 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Grammar
- en:Semantics
- en:Physics
- en:Radioactivity