activate
/ˈæktɪˌveɪt/verb
activate is spelled A-C-T-I-V-A-T-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, activate means “To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in activate?
| Letters | 8: A-C-T-I-V-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.8 times per million words; the 10,196th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is activate?
Activate appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce activate?
- /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/
Activate has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-activate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of activate
- activates present, singular, he/she/it
- activating participle, present
- activated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does activate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate.
activate the economy
- 2
To put a device, mechanism (alarm etc.) or system into action or motion; to trigger, to actuate, to set off, to enable.
The pranksters activated the fire alarm by spraying deodorant next to it.
- 3
To render more reactive; excite.
- 4
To render a molecule reactive, active, or effective in performing its function.
- 5
To render a substance radioactive.
- 6
To hasten a chemical reaction, especially by heating.
- 7
To remove the limitations of demoware by providing a license; to unlock.
- 8
To aerate in order to aid decomposition of organic matter.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Activate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to put into operation:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | actionner, activer |
| German | aktivieren, freischalten |
| Portuguese | ativar |
| Spanish | activar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does activate come from?
From active + -ate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).