activates

Activates is the third-person singular present tense of the verb activate. It denotes causing something to become active or operative, or to start a function, process, or state.

Etymology and form: The verb activate derives from Latin activare, from activus "active" and agere "to act," and entered English via Latin and Old French. As a grammatical form, activates is used with singular nouns or pronouns, as in "the sensor activates when motion is detected."

Usage in science and technology: In biology, activation refers to converting a molecule, enzyme, or signaling pathway to an active form, often through cofactors, phosphorylation, or conformational change. In chemistry, activation energy is the minimum energy for a reaction to proceed. In electronics and software, activation describes turning on features or validating a license; for example, "the device activates automatically" or "the software activates after key verification."

In informatics and data processing, activation can refer to enabling a feature flag or starting a model after initialization. In medicine, cell or immune activation describes the process by which cells become responsive to stimuli.

See also: activate, activation, activating agent.