catalysis

American  

[kuh-tal-uh-sis] / kəˈtæl ə sɪs /

noun

plural

catalyses

1. Chemistry. the causing or accelerating of a chemical change by the addition of a catalyst.

2. an action between two or more persons or forces, initiated by an agent that itself remains unaffected by the action.

   social catalyses occasioned by controversial writings.

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catalysis British  

/ kəˈtælɪsɪs /

noun

1. acceleration of a chemical reaction by the action of a catalyst

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Other Word Forms

• anticatalytic adjective
• anticatalytically adverb
• catalytic adjective
• catalytical adjective
• catalytically adverb
• noncatalytic adjective
• noncatalytically adverb
• self-catalysis noun
• semicatalytic adjective

Etymology

Origin of catalysis

First recorded in 1645–55; from New Latin, from Greek katálȳsis “dissolution,” equivalent to katalȳ́ein “to dissolve” ( kata- cata- + lȳ́ein “to loosen”) + -sis -sis

Example Sentences

This ability to fine-tune surface composition provides a powerful new way to design materials for electronics, catalysis, energy storage, photonics, and other applications.

From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2026

"What we are interested in is essentially to discover entirely new enzymatic reactions and general modes of enzyme catalysis," he added.

From Science Daily • May 30, 2024

In the OneEarth commentary, the team explored sources of catalysis for sustainable and circular chemical processes through the following lenses:

From Science Daily • May 17, 2024

Perovskites are currently a hot topic in materials science due to their remarkable properties and potential applications, including sustainable energy technologies, catalysis, and optoelectronics, to name a few.

From Science Daily • May 16, 2024

But the whole solvent agency of the digestive fluid enters into the category of that exceptional mode of action already familiar to us in chemistry as catalysis.

From Medical Essays, 1842-1882 by Holmes, Oliver Wendell