catalyst

Etymology

From catalysis + -ist.

noun

1. (chemistry) A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process.
   Enzymes, the catalysts of biological systems, are remarkable molecular devices that determine the pattern of chemical transformations. 1988, Lubert Stryer, Biochemistry, 3rd edition, page 177
2. Something that encourages progress or change.
   Economic development and integration are working as a catalyst for peace.
   It was a morning baptized by my first cup of coffee, freshly brewed over a gravel-bar fire, while they celebrated with the stronger catalyst of sour-mash whiskey in their fishing-vest cups. 1978, Ernest George Schwiebert, Trout, volume 2
   Israel's fear for the reactor—rather than Egypt's of it—was the greater catalyst for war. 2004, Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the making of the modern Middle East, page 76
   Rosa Parks was a true catalyst for change and she was only one person. Hearing about Rosa Parks and her protest showed me that there is hope for me and all the students in Ms. G's classes to truly be catalysts for change. 2006, The Freedom Writers, with Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, Diary 74
   He [countertenor Anthony Roth Constanzo] also enjoys being the catalyst whereby opera fertilises other art forms: recently, he's collaborated with Japanese kabuki actors, and a project with dancers from New York City Ballet is in the offing. 8 August 2014, Rupert Christiansen, “The truth about falsettos [print version: 12 August 2014, p. R8]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)
   The catalyst was the introduction of the Health & Safety at Work Act in 1974. While it applied to all workplaces, it gradually brought about a sea change in the attitude towards death and injury. Accidents were no longer accepted as 'inevitable'. January 26 2022, John Crosse, “When the tide turned to a safer railway...”, in RAIL, number 949, page 53
3. (literature) An inciting incident that sets the successive conflict into motion.
   The current view by both Labour and Conservative politicians is that the state of the UK railway is unsustainable, and the pandemic acted as a catalyst in exposing its weaknesses. May 31 2023, Tammy Samuel, Fergus McLaverty, “The political picture: what lies ahead for Britain's railways?”, in RAIL, number 984, page 31
4. (automotive) A catalytic converter.
5. (fantasy) An object that facilitates the casting of a spell (such as a magic wand).