Catalyse means to speed up a reaction through the use of a catalyst, or to begin a reaction. Catalyse is a transitive verb which is a verb that takes an object. Related words are catalyses, catalysed, catalysing, catalyser, catalysation. Catalyse is a British spelling.
Catalyze is the preferred North American spelling, including Canada. Related words are catalyzes, catalyzed, catalyzing, catalyzer and catalyzation. The North American spelling is gaining acceptance around the world. Catalyse and catalyze are examples of a group of words that are spelled with a “z” in American or North American English and with an “s” in British English. Catalyse appears in 1890 as a back-formation from the word catalysis.
Examples
UTT was set up to catalyse the diversification of the economy through the commercialisation of its R&D. (The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian)
RAM Ratings launches Sukuk Reflections report to catalyse Islamic finance (The Borneo Post)
But England’s spinners overshadowed their counterparts to catalyse what turned out to be a series-winning performance, with little help from Jimmy Anderson and Alastair Cook. (The New Indian Express)
Fortunately, the shift to FFV has begun to catalyze the historically glacial process of quality measure development. (The Huffington Post)
I’d like to catalyze the formation of a plan that facilitates the creative adoption of technology by our faculty at all levels of our curriculum – our on-campus undergraduate, graduate and professional curricula, as well as our distance learning programs at the master’s and certificate levels. (The Cornell Chronicle)
“The Thames River has the power to mobilize Londoners and catalyze community change,” Martha Powell of the London Community Foundation said as the winning vision was announced. (The London Free Press)