Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Catalyst
/ˈkætəlɪst/noun
A substance that speeds a chemical reaction without being consumed by it, or anything that triggers change in the same way.
The Greek roots
κατά
katá
down, completely
λύω
lýō
loosen, dissolve
Literally: “loosening down”
The story of the word
Berzelius named the phenomenon in 1835, taking κατάλυσις, a dissolving or breaking down, for the odd power some substances have to drive a reaction and come out unchanged. English pulled the agent noun catalyst out of it around 1900, and the figurative use followed almost immediately. The same λύω gives analysis, a loosening apart, and paralysis, a loosening beside.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- early 20th century
Same family
catalysisanalysisparalysiselectrolysis
In a sentence
Platinum acts as the catalyst, and none of it is used up.
The strike was the catalyst; the anger had been there for years.