Actuate

//ˈækt͡ʃu.eɪt// verb

verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To activate, or to put into motion; to animate. transitive

    "Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion."

  2. 2
    put in motion or move to act wordnet
  3. 3
    To incite to action; to motivate. transitive

    "1748, David Hume, 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."

  4. 4
    give an incentive for action wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
set offincitemotivatemotivatemoveprompt

Example

More examples

"Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion."

Etymology

From Medieval Latin āctuātus, perfect passive participle of āctuō (“actuate, implement”), from Latin āctus, perfect passive participle of agō (“do, act”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.