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to make active; cause to function or act.
physics.

to render more reactive; excite:
to activate a molecule.
to induce radioactivity.

to aerate (sewage) in order to accelerate decomposition of impure organic matter by microorganisms.
chemistry.

to make (carbon, a catalyst, molecules, etc.) more .
to hasten (reactions) by various means, as heating.

to place (a military unit or station) on an active status in an -ssigned capacity.
contemporary examples

it activates your parasympathetic nervous system and tells your body to relax and recuperate.
how to master the art of breathing ari meisel april 13, 2014

it also has found a formula that activates and energizes hundreds of millions of people to believe in a better future.
china’s not the big trade cheat harming america’s domestic economy zachary karabell march 18, 2012

historical examples

the suggestion reaches your subconscious and activates you consciously to waken.
a practical guide to self-hypnosis melvin powers

verb (transitive)
to make active or capable of action
(physics) to make radioactive
(chem)

to increase the rate of (a reaction)
to treat (a substance, such as carbon or alumina) so as to increase powers of adsorption

(physiol) to prepare by arousal (the body or one of its organs (e.g. the brain)) for action
to purify (sewage) by aeration
(us, military) to create, mobilize, or organize (a unit)
v.

1620s; see active + -ate (2). related: activated; activating.