- Today's Word
Catalyze
[KAT-uh-lyze]
Definition
- (verb) To cause or accelerate a change or action, acting as a stimulus that sparks a reaction or transformation. In a broader sense, it refers to bringing about significant change or spurring something into action.
Example
The young activist’s passionate speech catalyzed the student body into organizing a citywide environmental cleanup campaign.
Fun Fact
“Catalyze” comes from the Greek “katalysis,” combining “kata-” (meaning “down”) and “lysis” (meaning “loosening” or “breaking apart”). The term was first coined in 1836 by Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius, who discovered that certain substances could speed up chemical reactions without being consumed themselves. He called these substances “catalysts,” and the process “catalysis.” Interestingly, before its scientific use, the concept of catalysis was unknowingly applied for thousands of years in fermentation processes for making bread, wine, and cheese. During the Industrial Revolution, understanding catalysis became crucial for developing new manufacturing processes, leading to the term being adopted metaphorically in fields far beyond chemistry. Today, while maintaining its precise scientific meaning, “catalyze” has become an important term in fields ranging from social activism to business innovation, describing any person or event that precipitates significant change without being consumed by the process.