Actuate vs Impel - What's the difference?
actuate | impel | Synonyms |
To activate, or to put into motion; to animate.
* Johnson
To incite to action; to motivate.
* 1748 . HUME, David Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. 2. ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 11.
* Addison
To urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation (contrast with propel, to compel or drive extrinsically).
* , title=The Mirror and the Lamp
, chapter=2 To drive forward; to propel an object.
Actuate is a synonym of impel.
In lang=en terms the difference between actuate and impel
is that actuate is to incite to action; to motivate while impel is to drive forward; to propel an object.As verbs the difference between actuate and impel
is that actuate is to activate, or to put into motion; to animate while impel is to urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation (contrast with propel, to compel or drive extrinsically).actuate
English
Verb
(actuat)- Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion.
- A man in a fit of anger, is actuated in a very different manner from one who only thinks of that emotion.
- Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it.
Derived terms
* actuatorSee also
* actualise, actualize ----impel
English
Verb
(impell)citation, passage=She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.}}
