What does it mean to be an activist?

Well, I really wanted to know what I was saying to people when I stated that I was going to be an activist, so I looked up the word on Dictionary.com and here is what I found.


ac·tiv·ist   /ˈæktəvɪst/ Show Spelled[ak-tuh-vist] Show IPA
–noun
1.an especially active, vigorous advocate of a cause, esp. a political cause.
–adjective
2.of or pertaining to activism or activists: an activist organization for environmental concern.
3.advocating or opposing a cause or issue vigorously, esp. a political cause: Activist opponents of the President picketed the White House.

This did not impress me that much, because this leads one to turn their mind to a political arena. Although there is something admirable about activism, it also leaves a bad taste in the mouth of some. I decide to break the word down.

ac·tive   /ˈæktɪv/ Show Spelled[ak-tiv] Show IPA

–adjective
1.engaged in action; characterized by energetic work, participation, etc.; busy: an active life.
2.being in a state of existence, progress, or motion: active hostilities.
3.involving physical effort and action: active sports.
4.having the power of quick motion; nimble: active as a gazelle.
5.characterized by action, motion, volume, use, participation, etc.: an active market in wheat; an active list of subscribers.
6.causing activity or change; capable of exerting influence (opposed to passive): active treason.
7.effective (opposed to inert): active ingredients.
8.Grammar. noting or pertaining to a voice of verbal inflection in which typically the subject of the sentence is represented as performing the action expressed by the verb (opposed to passive): Writes in He writes a letter every day is an active verb form.
9.requiring or giving rise to action; practical: an active course.
10.(of a volcano) in eruption.
11.Accounting. profitable; busy: active accounts.
12.requiring personal effort or attention; not automatic: an active alarm system.
13.interest-bearing: active paper.
14.Medicine/Medical. acting quickly; producing immediate effects: active remedies.
15.Sociology. (of a crowd) engaging in purposeful activity, often of a militant nature.Compare expressive (def. 4).
16.Aerospace. able to transmit signals: an active communications satellite.
17.Electronics. (of a device or system) acting as a source of electrical energy, as a generator, or capable of amplifying or converting voltages or currents, as a transistor or diode.
18.(of a solar heating system) accumulating and distributing solar heat by mechanical means.
19.Military. serving on active duty.
–noun
20.Grammar.
a.the active voice.
b.a form or construction in the active voice.
21.an active person, member, subscriber, etc.: The circular was mailed only to the actives on our list.
22.Informal. something showing considerable action or activity: On the stock market there was heavy trading in the actives.

Ok well obviously the word Active is pretty understandable, but has alot of meanings. I for one up till now have been actively sitting on my butt typing. But when you add the IST on I think is when the word really gets it's power.

ist 
a suffix of nouns, often corresponding to verbs ending in -ize or nouns ending in -ism, that denote a person who practices or is concerned with something, or holds certain principles, doctrines, etc.: apologist; dramatist; machinist; novelist; realist; socialist; Thomist.

I was so right. I could be a fan of the activity of mold and be an activist. But I am going to give the power to the first part of the word for now. The goal is to ACTIVEly persue my goal to be an Activist everyday for a year and move on from there.