actuate

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   engineering: to cause a machine or mechanism to operate or move

   Pressing the switch will actuate the hydraulic valve.

2. 2
   verb

   formal, usually passive: to motivate someone to act in a particular way

   The investigators concluded that the scheme was actuated by greed.

From Medieval Latin actuare 'to carry out or put into action,' from Latin actus 'a doing, act,' the past participle of agere 'to do, drive.' The mechanical sense developed from the broader idea of stirring something into activity.

Topics