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Origin and history of interact

interact(v.)

"act on each other, act reciprocally," 1805, from inter- + act (v.). Related: Interacted; interacting.

also from 1805

Entries linking to interact

act(v.)

mid-15c., acten, "to act upon or adjudicate" a legal case, from Latin actus, past participle of agere "to set in motion, drive, drive forward," hence "to do, perform," also "act on stage, play the part of; plead a cause at law" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move").

The verb is original in Latin, but most of the modern verbal senses in English probably are from the noun. The general sense of "to do, perform, transact" is from c. 1600. Of things, "do something, exert energy or force," by 1751. In theater use from 1590s as "perform as an actor" (intransitive), 1610s as "represent by performance on the stage" (transitive). The general meaning "perform specific duties or functions," often on a temporary basis, is by 1804.

To act on "exert influence on" is from 1810. To act up "be unruly" is by 1900 (in reference to a horse). Earlier it meant "acting in accordance with" a duty, expectation, or belief (1640s). To act out "behave anti-socially" (1974) is from psychiatric sense of "expressing one's unconscious impulses or desires" (acting out is from 1945). Related: Acted; acting.

interactive(adj.)

"acting upon or influencing each other," 1832, from interact (v.), probably on model of active. Related: Interactively; interactivity.

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assort
late 15c., "to distribute into groups or classes," from Old French assorter "to assort, match" (15c., Modern French assortir), from a- "to" (see ad-) + sorte "kind, category," from Latin sortem (nominative sors) "lot; fate, destiny; share, portion; rank, category; sex, class, ora
intervene
1580s, "intercept" (obsolete), a back-formation from intervention, or else from Latin intervenire "to come between, intervene; interrupt; stand in the way, oppose, hinder," from inter "between" (see inter-) + venire "to come," from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwa- "to go, come."
combine
early 15c., "to associate, unite, join two or more things together" (transitive), from Old French combiner (14c.) and directly from Late Latin combinare "to unite, yoke together," from Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + bini "two by two," adverb from bi- "twice" (from PIE ro
teem
"abound, swarm, be prolific," Old English teman (Mercian), tieman (West Saxon) "beget, give birth to, bring forth, produce, propagate," from Proto-Germanic *tau(h)mjan (denominative), from PIE root *deuk- "to lead." Related to team (n.) in its now-obsolete Old English sense of "f
meet
 Middle English mēten, from Old English metan "to find, find out; fall in with, encounter, come into the same place with; obtain," from Proto-Germanic *motjanan (source also of Old Norse mæta, Old Frisian meta, Old Saxon motian "to meet," Gothic gamotijan), from PIE root *mo
mete
"to allot," Old English metan (West Saxon mæton), "to measure, ascertain the dimension or quantity of; measure out; compare; estimate the greatness of value of" (class V strong verb; past tense mæt, past participle meten), from Proto-Germanic *metana "to measure" (source also of
transact
1580s, back-formation from transaction, or else from Latin transactus, past participle of transigere "to drive through, accomplish, bring to an end, settle," from trans "across, beyond; through" (see trans-) + agere "to set in motion, drive, drive forward," hence "to do, perform"
treat
c. 1300, "negotiate, bargain, deal with," from Old French traitier "deal with, act toward; set forth (in speech or writing)" (12c.), from Latin tractare "manage, handle, deal with, conduct oneself toward," originally "drag about, tug, haul, pull violently," frequentative of trahe
relate
1520s, "to recount, tell," from French relater "refer, report" (14c.) and directly from Latin relatus, used as past participle of referre "bring back, bear back" (see refer), from re- "back, again" + lātus "borne, carried" (see oblate (n.)). The meaning "stand in some relation; h
condescend
mid-14c., of God, a king., etc., "make gracious allowance" for human frailty, etc.; late 14c., "yield deferentially," from Old French condescendere (14c.) "to agree, consent, give in, yield, come down from one's rights or claims," and directly from Late Latin condescendere "to le

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