self-activity en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus ▲ Ancient Greek ἐνεργητῐκός (energētĭkós)sl. Latin āctīvus Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin āctīvitāsder. Middle French activitébor. English activity English self-activity From self- + activity.
Meanings
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(uncountable) Self-motion or the power of moving one's self or itself without foreign or external aid.
If it can intrinsically stir itself […] it must have a principle of self-activity which is life and sense.
1692, Robert Boyle, A Confutation of Atheism from the Structure and Origin of Human Bodies: