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

Until now, researchers were unable to observe DNA and RNA from the same cell on a large scale, limiting insight into how DNA variants affect gene activity and contribute to disease.

Read more on Science Daily

The statement comes amid the Pentagon’s move to enforce a new unprecedentedly restrictive media policy that paints basic reporting methods as criminal activity.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The labor union previously stated that Huerta was detained “while exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"We saw it as a very touristy activity, but we actually ended up loving the sport," says Julia, 34.

Read more on BBC

The issue is the nature of the credit itself, as nonfinancial depository institution loans, or NFDIs, can be murky, funding less-transparent borrowers like hedge funds for their own financial activities.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

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