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catalysis

noun

Simple meaning

Acceleration of a chemical reaction induced the presence of material that is chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

katuhluhsuhs

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkætələsəs

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. chemistry

    Acceleration of a chemical reaction induced the presence of material that is chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction

    “Of the top 50 commodity chemicals, 30 are created directly by catalysis and another 6 are made from raw materials that are catalytically produced.”

  2. chemistry

    The increase of the rate of a chemical reaction, induced by a catalyst.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: Acceleration of a chemical reaction induced the presence of material that is chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction

Used this way, catalysis is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.

Heard in a sentence
“Of the top 50 commodity chemicals, 30 are created directly by catalysis and another 6 are made from raw materials that are catalytically produced.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Science
  • Academic writing
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use catalysis

  • “Of the top 50 commodity chemicals, 30 are created directly by catalysis and another 6 are made from raw materials that are catalytically produced.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

heterogeneous catalysishomogeneous catalysisbase catalysisacid catalysisenzyme catalysisenzymatic catalysistransfer catalysisapplied catalysis

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Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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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.