interactive definition | Dictionary.com

in⋅ter⋅ac⋅tive

[in-ter-ak-tiv]

–adjective

1.	acting one upon or with the other.

2.	of or pertaining to a two-way system of electronic communications, as by means of television or computer: interactive communications between families using two-way cable television.

3.	(of a computer program or system) interacting with a human user, often in a conversational way, to obtain data or commands and to give immediate results or updated information: For many years airline reservations have been handled by interactive computer systems.

Origin:
1825–35; inter- + active

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : interactive

Spanish:

interactivo,

Italian:

interattivo,

Japanese:

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in·ter·ac·tive (ĭn'tər-āk'tĭv) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Acting or capable of acting on each other.
Computer Science Of or relating to a program that responds to user activity.
Of, relating to, or being a form of television entertainment in which the signal activates electronic apparatus in the viewer's home or the viewer uses the apparatus to affect events on the screen, or both.

in'ter·ac'tive·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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interactive
adjective
1.	used especially of drugs or muscles that work together so the total effect is greater than the sum of the two (or more) [syn: synergistic] [ant: antagonistic]
2.	capable of acting on or influencing each other [syn: interactional]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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interactive

If users receive real-time feedback from a computer so that they can modify the use of the machine, the hardware, software, or content, the system is said to be interactive.

[Chapter:] Technology

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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INTERACTIVE
A network simulation language.
["Design and Implementation of a Pascal Based Interactive Network Simulation Language", R. Lakshmanan, PhD Thesis, Oakland U, Rochester MI 1983].
(1995-01-12)

interactive programming
A term describing a program whose input and output are interleaved, like a conversation, allowing the user's input to depend on earlier output from the same run.
The interaction with the user is usually conducted through either a text-based interface or a graphical user interface. Other kinds of interface, e.g. using speech recognition and/or speech synthesis, are also possible.
This is in contrast to batch processing where all the input is prepared before the program runs and so cannot depend on the program's output.
(1996-06-21)

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