self-activity

English

Etymology

From self- +‎ activity.

Noun

self-activity (uncountable)

1. Self-motion or the power of moving one's self or itself without foreign or external aid.
   • 1692, Robert Boyle, A Confutation of Atheism from the Structure and Origin of Human Bodies:

     If it can intrinsically stir itself […] it must have a principle of self-activity which is life and sense.

References

• Ogilvie, John. The Imperial Dictionary of the English Language: A Complete Encyclopedic Lexicon, Literary, Scientific, and Technological. Blackie & Son. (1884).