Adjacent Words

Actuate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ACT'UATE, a. Put in action. [Little used.]
ACT'UATE, v.t. [from act.]
To put into action; to move or incite to action; as, men are actuated by motives, or passions. It seems to have been used formerly in the sense of invigorate, noting increase of action; but the use is not legitimate.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: put in motion or move to act; "trigger a reaction"; "actuate the circuits" [syn: trip, actuate, trigger, activate, set off, spark off, spark, trigger off, touch off]
2: give an incentive for action; "This moved me to sacrifice my career" [syn: motivate, actuate, propel, move, prompt, incite]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-ated; -ating) Etymology: Medieval Latin actuatus, past participle of actuare to execute, from Latin actus act Date: 1645 1. to put into mechanical action or motion 2. to move to action Synonyms: see move • actuation noun

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) To operate a mine-firing mechanism by an influence or a series of influences in such a way that all the requirements of the mechanism for firing, or for registering a target count, are met.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 communicate motion to (a machine etc.). 2 cause the operation of (an electrical device etc.). 3 cause (a person) to act. Derivatives: actuation n. actuator n. Etymology: med.L actuare f. L actus: see ACTUAL

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Actuate Ac"tu*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Actuated; p. pr. & vb. n. Actuating.] [LL. actuatus, p. p. of actuare, fr. L. actus act.] 1. To put into action or motion; to move or incite to action; to influence actively; to move as motives do; -- more commonly used of persons. Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion. --Johnson. Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it. --Addison. 2. To carry out in practice; to perform. [Obs.] ``To actuate what you command.'' --Jer. Taylor. Syn: To move; impel; incite; rouse; instigate; animate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Actuate Ac"tu*ate, a. [LL. actuatus, p. p. of actuare.] Put in action; actuated. [Obs.] --South.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(actuates, actuating, actuated) If a person is actuated by an emotion, that emotion makes them act in a certain way. If something actuates a device, the device starts working. They were actuated by desire... The flow of current actuates the signal. = activate VERB: be V-ed, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Induce, impel, move, prompt, instigate, persuade, incite, act upon, prevail upon, work upon, urge, drive, dispose, incline.

Moby Thesaurus

animate, arouse, circulate, compel, drive, drive on, energize, excite, force, forward, foster, galvanize, give an impetus, give momentum, goad, impel, incite, mobilize, motivate, move, move to action, nudge, power, promote, propel, provoke, push, put in motion, rouse, set agoing, set going, set in motion, set off, shove, spark, stimulate, stir, thrust, vitalize, whip on