active
French, verb
active is spelled A-C-T-I-V-E (6 letters) and appears 28 times per million words in written French, the 2,874th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Active is a French verb meaning “first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a feminine singular of actif. With an accent, activé is a different word: “past participle of activer”.
What does active mean in English?
adjective
- 1
femininefeminine singular of actif
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of activer
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Partie de l'armée qui, en temps de paix, est maintenue en état de combattre immédiatement.
noun: 1. Femme en âge de travailler, qu’elle ait ou recherche un emploi.
adjective: 1. Qui est rendu plus rapide. 2. Qui est mis en action ou en fonctionnement.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of active
- activée feminine
- activés masculine plural
- activées feminine plural
- actives plural
- actif masculine
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is active in French?
active appears 28 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).