Catalyst
In chemistry, it is a substance which increases the rate of a reaction (or to enable it to occur at all). Applied more generally, it can be something that causes change.
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Origin
The word comes from Greek kata ("down") + lyein ("loosen"), giving catalysis the sense of dissolution or release. The chemical concept was formalized in 1836 by Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius, who coined the term to describe a force that accelerated reactions without being consumed. Earlier work by Scottish chemist Elizabeth Fulhame in 1794 and by Gottlieb Kirchhoff in 1811 had observed catalytic processes without naming them, making Berzelius's 1836 paper the defining formal coinage.
Updated February 22, 2026