catalysis
Americannoun
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Chemistry. the causing or accelerating of a chemical change by the addition of a catalyst.
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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.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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self-catalysisnoun
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anticatalyticadjective
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catalyticadjective
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catalyticaladjective
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noncatalyticadjective
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semicatalyticadjective
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anticatalyticallyadverb
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catalyticallyadverb
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noncatalyticallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Those pores make it useful for applications such as gas separation, membranes, and catalysis.
From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026
"Researchers have been looking at the ways these atomic arrangements change metallic properties -- a big one is catalysis," Freitas says of the process that drives chemical reactions.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2025
Surfaces play a key role in numerous chemical reactions, including catalysis and corrosion.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024
"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
Like circulation or respiration, periodic catalysis has its poisons, and exhibits signs of fatigue, and of paralysis by cold.
From The Mechanism of Life by Leduc, Stéphane
This gene encodes the enzyme GA20 oxidase 2, which catalyses the production of highly active forms of gibberellin3,4.
From Nature ● Jul. 14, 2020
When an siRNA binds to its target mRNA, it catalyses the destruction of that molecule.
From Nature ● Oct. 15, 2019
Having intended to avoid marriage until his career was fully under way, he falls prey to social pressure; the perception that he and Rosamond are already attached catalyses their engagement.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 21, 2018
If, as for many, it catalyses an interest in the cultural, spiritual and historical movements that came together to create it then that’s lovely.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 23, 2015
Reith and co-workers from the universities of Adelaide and Halle, Germany, for example, have started studying the biochemical process that catalyses the precipitation of gold from solution in C. metallidurans.
From Nature ● Mar. 13, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
