Catalyze is a verb that means to bring about or inspire.

Our word of the day’s origin is in the realm of chemistry. The Greek word katalysis (ka TAL us sis) means ‘dissolution,’ and when the word evolved into the English word ‘catalyst,’ it has been used mostly to refer to a process performed in a chemistry lab.

But catalyze can also be used outside of a scientific context to simply mean ‘inspire’ or ‘urge.’ Here’s an example:

In an effort to catalyze the kids out of bed on a Saturday morning, I told them I had new presents for them in the driveway. I neglected to mention they had to shovel the driveway in order to find them.