actuate

English

WOTD – 11 January 2009

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language code; the value "ML." is not valid. See WT:LOL. āctuātus, perfect passive participle of āctuō (“actuate, implement”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin āctus, perfect passive participle of agō (“do, act”).

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Audio (US): (file)
Audio (AU): (file)

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(transitive) To activate, or to put into motion; to animate.
- Johnson
  Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion.
- 1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter IV, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale, London: Methuen & Co., […], published 1907, →OCLC; The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1907, →OCLC, pages 68–69:
  I walk always with my right hand closed round the india-rubber ball which I have in my trouser pocket. The pressing of this ball actuates a detonator inside the flask I carry in my pocket. It's the principle of the pneumatic instantaneous shutter for a camera lens.
(transitive) To incite to action; to motivate.
- 1748. HUME, David Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. 2. ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 11.
  A man in a fit of anger, is actuated in a very different manner from one who only thinks of that emotion.
- Addison
  Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it.

to activate; put into motion

Bulgarian: задвижвам (bg) (zadvižvam), възбуждам (bg) (vǎzbuždam)
Czech: aktivovat (cs)
Dutch: aandrijven (nl)
Finnish: liikuttaa (fi)
(deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
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Japanese: 作動させる (ja) (さどうさせる, sadō saseru)
Latin: āctuō
Polish: uruchomić (pl)
Russian: приводи́ть в де́йствие impf (privodítʹ v déjstvije), привести́ в де́йствие pf (privestí v déjstvije)

to incite to action