actuate
verb (formal)- actuate something
to make a machine or device start to work 开动（机器、装置等） The timer must have been actuated by radio control. 计时器一定是由无线电控制启动的。
- [usually passive]
to make somebody behave in a particular way 激励；驱使
Word Originlate 16th cent.: from medieval Latin actuat- ‘carried out, caused to operate’, from the verb actuare, from Latin actus ‘event, thing done’, act- ‘done’, from the verb agere, reinforced by the French noun acte. The original sense was ‘carry out in practice’, later ‘stir into activity, enliven’; sense (1) dates from the mid 17th cent.