active - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English actyf, from Old French actif, from Latin āctīv(us), from agere (“to do, to act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. By surface analysis, act +‎ -ive.

• IPA^(key): /ˈæk.tɪv/
• Rhymes: -æktɪv
• Hyphenation: ac‧tive

active (comparative more active, superlative most active)

1. Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting;—opposed to passive, that receives.

   Synonym: acting

   Antonym: passive

   certain active principles

   the active powers of the mind

2. Quick in physical movement; of an agile and vigorous body; nimble.

   Synonyms: agile, nimble

   Antonyms: passive, indolent, still

   an active child or animal

3. In action; actually proceeding; working; in force

   Synonyms: in action, working, in force

   Antonyms: quiescent, dormant, extinct

   active laws

   active hostilities

   1. (specifically, of certain geological features, such as volcano, geysers, etc) Emitting hot materials, such as lava, smoke, or steam, or producing tremors.
4. Given to action; constantly engaged in action; energetic; diligent; busy

   Synonyms: busy, deedful, diligent, energetic

   Antonyms: dull, sluggish, indolent, inert

   an active man of business

   active mind

   active zeal

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. […] He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.

5. Requiring or implying action or exertion

   Synonym: operative

   Antonyms: passive, tranquil, sedentary

   active employment or service

   active scenes

6. Given to action rather than contemplation; practical; operative

   Antonyms: theoretical, speculative

   an active rather than a speculative statesman

7. Brisk; lively.

   an active demand for corn

8. Implying or producing rapid action.

   Antonyms: passive, slow

   an active disease

   an active remedy

9. (heading, grammar) About verbs.
   1. Applied to a form of the verb; — opposed to passive. See active voice.
   2. Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive.
   3. Applied to all verbs that express action as distinct from mere existence or state.
10. (computing, of source code) Eligible to be processed by a compiler or interpreter.

    • 2006 December 24, David Williams, “satellite program”, in comp.lang.basic.visual.misc‎^[1] (Usenet):

      I think it should be upgraded to Visual BASIC, but I'm no good at that. So maybe someone here would like to take a crack at it. There are only 40 lines of active code, plus a few REMs. About 100 BASIC commands altogether.

    • 2012, Chris Grover, “Triggering Actions”, in Adobe Edge Preview 5: The Missing Manual, 3rd edition, Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 98:

      Edge uses green text for comments. This makes it easier for you to quickly differentiate between active code and comments.

11. (electronics) Not passive.
12. (gay slang, of a homosexual man) enjoying a role in anal sex in which he penetrates, rather than being penetrated by his partner.

    Synonym: top

    Antonyms: passive, bottom

• See also Thesaurus:active

• act

• Albanian: aktiv

• versatile (in relation to sense 10)

active (plural actives)

1. A person or thing that is acting or capable of acting.

   • 1989, The Alcalde, volume 78, number 2, page 11:

     "Alumni could become more active in giving guidance and leadership to students. They act as sort of a 'maturity governor' on fraternities," notes Ratliff, citing surveys suggesting that fraternity actives presume mistakenly that alumni want hazing […]

2. (electronics) Any component that is not passive. See Passivity (engineering).

   • 2013, David Manners, Hitchhikers' Guide to Electronics in the '90s, page 36:

     Components are split into two broad segments: actives and passives. Active components like the vacuum tube and the transistor contain the power to generate and alter electrical signals.

• “active”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “active”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• Cavite

active

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of activar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of activar

• IPA^(key): /ak.tiv/

active

1. feminine singular of actif

active

1. inflection of activer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

• cavité

active

1. inflection of activar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• aktive

Borrowed from Latin āctīvē.

active

1. (grammar, obsolete) actively

active

1. inflection of activ:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

active (not comparable)

1. active

• action
• activitate

āctīvē (comparative āctīvius, superlative āctīvissimē)

1. (grammar) actively

āctīve

1. vocative masculine singular of āctīvus

• “active”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “active”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to put the finishing touch to a work: extrema manus accēdit operi (active extremam manum imponere operi)
    
  • (ambiguous) to be some one's favourite: in amore et deliciis esse alicui (active in deliciis habere aliquem)
    

active

1. alternative form of actyf

active

1. alternative form of actyf

active

1. inflection of activar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• IPA^(key): [akˈti.ve]

active

1. nominative/accusative feminine/neuter plural of activ

active

1. inflection of activar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative