Noncatalytically

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner that does not involve speeding up a chemical reaction by a catalyst ; without the aid of a substance that increases the rate of a chemical change ; describing processes occurring independently of catalytic agents
2. Characterizing actions or reactions performed without the involvement of catalysts ; describing the absence of acceleration by catalytic substances ; relating to chemical events happening purely by non-catalytic means
3. Referring to mechanisms that proceed without catalyst assistance ; indicating operations carried out without catalysis ; pertaining to activities or transformations occurring autonomously from catalytic influence

Etymology: "Noncatalytically" is a plain formation: the prefix "non-" ("not") attached to "catalytically," the adverb from "catalytic," which describes something that speeds up a chemical reaction without being used up in it. Put together, the word means "without a catalyst" or "in a way that does not involve a catalyst," and it is typically used to contrast a reaction that proceeds on its own with one that needs an accelerator. The "catalytic" part traces back to the Greek "katalysis," from "kata-" ("down") and "lysis" ("loosening" or "dissolving"), a sense that the chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius drew on when he coined "catalysis" in 1835 to describe reactions that were accelerated by substances that seemed to remain unchanged. The adjective and adverb forms followed from that technical term, so the word is a modern scientific construction built from classical parts.

Synonyms: inertly, passively, inactively, nonreactively

Antonyms: catalytically, actively, reactively, energetically