activator
noun
Simple meaning
Any chemical or agent which regulates one or more genes by increasing the rate of transcription.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aktuhvayterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈæktəveɪtɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
One who, or that which, activates.
biology
Any chemical or agent which regulates one or more genes by increasing the rate of transcription.
A type of dopant used in phosphors and scintillators.
physical chemistry
Something that activates a catalyst
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: One who, or that which, activates.
This word often refers to a substance or device that starts a process, like a 'chemical activator' or a 'cell activator.' It's less common for people, who would more likely be called an 'initiator' or 'catalyst.'
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Science/Lab context
“Add the enzyme activator to start the reaction.”
Beauty products
“This hair color kit includes a special activator cream.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Chemical / agency
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Protease produced in the kidney that converts plasminogen to plasmin and so initiates fibrinolysis.
A thrombolytic agent (trade name Activase) that causes fibrinolysis at the site of a blood clot.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.