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Chemistry. the causing or accelerating of a chemical change by the addition of a catalyst.
an action between two or more persons or forces, initiated by an agent that itself remains unaffected by the action:
social catalyses occasioned by controversial writings.
Contemporary Examples

Communications tools and political platform building workshops could be catalytic.
Satellites Correctly Predict Military Campaign Against Civilians in Sudan Akshaya Kumar December 8, 2013

Historical Examples

I believe the sedative powers of these medicines to be quite distinct from their catalytic influence.
The Action of Medicines in the System Frederick William Headland

But introduce the catalytic agent and immediately the reaction commences.
On Digestive Proteolysis R. H. Chittenden

Among Antisquamics, the last catalytic order, we meet with Arsenic again.
The Action of Medicines in the System Frederick William Headland

The same remark applies to the working of catalytic medicines.
The Action of Medicines in the System Frederick William Headland

Bredig has studied the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by metallic colloids prepared by his electric method.
The Mechanism of Life Stphane Leduc

Arsenic is foreign to the blood, and is in every way a catalytic medicine.
The Action of Medicines in the System Frederick William Headland

It also appears to act on the catalytic plan; but it has not been often employed.
The Action of Medicines in the System Frederick William Headland

A catalytic agent will return you to normal before you reach the planet.
Thy Name Is Woman Bryce Walton

Enzymes perform their catalytic functions by reason of their colloidal form.
The Chemistry of Plant Life Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher

adjective
of or relating to catalysis; involving a catalyst
noun (pl) -ses (-ˌsiːz)
acceleration of a chemical reaction by the action of a catalyst
adj.

1836, from Latinized form of Greek katalytikos “able to dissolve,” from katalyein (see catalysis).
n.

1650s, “dissolution,” from Latinized form of Greek katalysis “dissolution, a dissolving” (of governments, military units, etc.), from katalyein “to dissolve,” from kata- “down” (or “completely”), see cata-, + lyein “to loosen” (see lose). Chemical sense “change caused by an agent which itself remains unchanged” is attested from 1836, introduced by Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848).

catalysis ca·tal·y·sis (kə-tāl’ĭ-sĭs)
n. pl. ca·tal·y·ses (-sēz’)
The action of a catalyst, especially an increase in the rate of a chemical reaction.
catalyst
(kāt’l-ĭst)
A substance that starts or speeds up a chemical reaction while undergoing no permanent change itself. The enzymes in saliva, for example, are catalysts in digestion.

catalytic adjective (kāt’l-ĭt’ĭk)