active

From Middle English actyf, from Old French actif, from Latin activus, from agere (“to do, to act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti.

Morphologically act +‎ -ive.

• IPA^(key): /ˈæk.tɪv/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -æktɪv

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.

   certain active principles

   the active powers of the mind

   Synonym: acting

   Antonym: passive

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

   an active child or animal

   Synonyms: agile, nimble

   Antonyms: passive, indolent, still

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

   active laws

   active hostilities

   Synonyms: in action, working, in force

   Antonyms: quiescent, dormant, extinct

   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

   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.

   Synonyms: busy, deedful, diligent, energetic

   Antonyms: dull, sluggish, indolent, inert

5. Requiring or implying action or exertion

   active employment or service

   active scenes

   Synonym: operative

   Antonyms: passive, tranquil, sedentary

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

   an active rather than a speculative statesman

   Antonyms: theoretical, speculative

7. Brisk; lively.

   an active demand for corn

8. Implying or producing rapid action.

   an active disease

   an active remedy

   Antonyms: passive, slow

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 (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 sexual 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.
• “active”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• Cavite

active

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

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

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, 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):

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