activity

[ak-tiv-i-tee]

noun

plural

activities 

1. the state or quality of being active.

   There was not much activity in the stock market today. He doesn't have enough physical activity in his life.

2. a specific deed, action, function, or sphere of action.

   social activities.

3. work, especially in elementary grades at school, that involves direct experience by the student rather than textbook study.

4. energetic activity; animation; liveliness.

5. a use of energy or force; an active movement or operation.

6. normal mental or bodily power, function, or process.

7. Physical Chemistry.,  the capacity of a substance to react, corrected for the loss of reactivity due to the interaction of its constituents.

8. Physics.

   1. the number of atoms of a radioactive substance that disintegrate per unit of time, usually expressed in curies.

   2. radioactivity.

9. an organizational unit or the function it performs.

activity

/ ækˈtɪvɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or quality of being active

2. lively action or movement

3. any specific deed, action, pursuit, etc

   recreational activities

4. the number of disintegrations of a radioactive substance in a given unit of time, usually expressed in curies or disintegrations per second

5. 1. the capacity of a substance to undergo chemical change

   2. the effective concentration of a substance in a chemical system. The absolute activity of a substance B, λ B , is defined as exp (μ B RT ) where μ B is the chemical potential

Other Word Forms

• nonactivity noun
• preactivity noun
• superactivity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of activity¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Middle French or directly from Medieval Latin āctīvitās; active, -ity

Example Sentences

The park, which remains open for business as usual while a new owner is sought, has 36 rides and activities along with more than large-scale 90 dinosaurs - some fibreglass, some animatronic.

From BBC

"We are aware of many other thefts that share some of the hallmarks of North Korea-linked activity but lack sufficient evidence to be definitively attributed," he says.

From BBC

Leslie Hunewill’s cattle ranching family sees quite a bit of “horse activity” on grazing lands in an area called the Mono Sand Flats, to the east and north of the lake.

From Los Angeles Times

These include new work requirements that are a cornerstone of Republican demands, under which certain adults would have to work or engage in qualifying activities to maintain Medicaid benefits.

From Salon

In Enfield, north London, the Met sought a court injunction to ban car meetings, following many years of illegal activity at spots along the A10.

From BBC

Related Words

• act 
• endeavor 
• enterprise 
• job 
• project 
• scheme 
• task 
• venture 
• work