activity
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French activité, from Latin activitas. Equivalent to active + -ity.
PronunciationEdit
- IPA(key): /ækˈtɪ.vɪ.ti/, /ækˈtɪ.vɪ.tiː/, /ækˈtɪ.və.ti/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK male) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪvɪti
NounEdit
activity (countable and uncountable, plural activities)
- (uncountable) The state or quality of being active; activeness.
- Pit row was abuzz with activity.
- (countable) Something done as an action or a movement.
- The activity for the morning was a walk to the store.
- (countable) Something done for pleasure or entertainment, especially one involving movement or an excursion.
- 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
- Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
- An increasing number of sports activities are on offer at the university.
- Quilting can be an enjoyable activity.
- (grammar, semantics) The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change over time and have no natural end point.
- 1997, Robert van Valin and Randy LaPolla, Syntax[1], page 92:
- […] distinctions among states of affairs are reflected to a striking degree in distinctions among Aktionsart types. That is, situations are expressed by state verbs or predicates, events by achievement verbs or predicates, and actions by activity verbs or predicates.
- (physics) The number of radioactive decays per unit time. Unit for it: becquerel or curie
Usage notesEdit
- Adjectives often used with "activity": increased, decreased, high, low, volcanic, seismic, eruptive, intellectual, physical, mental, spiritual, muscular, cerebral, favorite, recreational, practical, cultural, artistic, literary, musical, political, diplomatic, military, domestic, voluntary, missionary, chemical, optical, productive, reproductive, industrial, commercial, etc.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:activity
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
state or quality of being active
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something done as an action or a movement
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something done for pleasure or entertainment
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Further readingEdit
- “activity” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- “activity” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.