激活

• Pinyin: jī huó
• Hanzi breakdown: 激 = 氵 + 敫 (triggering energy); 活 = 氵 + 舌 (water + tongue, lively/active)

Meaning

To activate; to enable a dormant function, account, system, or potential. Brings something from an inactive state into full operation.

Common in technology (激活软件 — activate software), biology (激活细胞 — activate cells), economics (激活市场 — activate the market), and motivational language. Implies awakening latent capacity or enabling a system to function.

Examples

1. 用户需要输入授权序列号才能激活软件，否则只能使用功能受限的试用版本。 Users need to enter an authorization serial number to activate the software; otherwise, they can only use a limited trial version.
2. 这项政策旨在激活农村土地流转市场，吸引社会资本投入农业现代化建设。 This policy aims to activate the rural land-transfer market and attract social investment into agricultural modernization.
3. 医学研究表明，适度规律的运动可以有效激活免疫系统，增强机体的整体抗病能力。 Medical research shows that moderate, regular exercise can effectively activate the immune system and strengthen the body’s overall resistance to illness.

Usage Guide

Context: technology, economics, biology, motivation

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 政府推出一系列优惠措施，意在激活民间投资热情，推动经济从持续低迷中加快回暖复苏。(The government has introduced a series of preferential measures aimed at activating enthusiasm for private investment and promoting faster economic recovery from prolonged sluggishness.)
• 这款健身应用通过个性化训练计划激活用户的运动潜能，帮助他们养成持续锻炼的良好习惯。(This fitness app activates users' athletic potential through personalised training plans, helping them develop good habits of continuous exercise.)

Don't Say

• 激活一个人的情感 — while metaphorically possible, use 唤起/激起 for emotions; 激活 is better reserved for systems, functions, accounts, or dormant capacities

Origin & History

激 (stimulate/trigger) + 活 (alive/active)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal