Coined by chemist Berzelius in 1836 from Greek 'katalysis' (dissolution), built from 'kata-' (down) and 'lyein' (to loosen) — the same root family that gives us analysis, paralysis, and dialysis.
The acceleration of a chemical reaction by a substance that is not itself consumed in the process
Catalysis was coined in 1836 by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who drew from Greek 'katalysis' (κατάλυσις), meaning 'dissolution' or 'a dissolving.' The Greek word is composed of 'kata-' (down) and 'lyein' (to loosen, dissolve, release), from the Proto-Indo-European root *leu- (to loosen, divide, cut apart). Berzelius needed a term for his observation that certain substances
Berzelius coined 'catalysis' in 1836, but the phenomenon was already well known — platinum sponge could ignite hydrogen gas on contact, and acids could convert starch to sugar without being used up. What Berzelius provided was not a discovery but a name, and naming it transformed scattered curiosities into a unified field of study that now underpins most industrial chemistry.