Wiktionary

act

See also: ACT, Act, act., Act., A.C.T., and A. C. T.

Translingual Edit

Symbol Edit

act

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Achterhooks.

English Edit

 
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Etymology Edit

From Middle English acte, from Old French acte, from Latin ācta (“register of events”), plural of āctum (“decree, law”), from agere (“to do, to act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. Compare German Akte (“file”). Partially displaced deed, from Old English dǣd (“act, deed”).

Pronunciation Edit

Noun Edit

act (countable and uncountable, plural acts)

  1. (countable) Something done, a deed.
    an act of goodwill
    • 1798, William Wordsworth, Lines:
      That best portion of a good man's life, / His little, nameless, unremembered acts / Of kindness and of love.
  2. (obsolete, uncountable) Actuality.
    • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
      The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be.
  3. (theology) Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.
  4. (law, countable) A product of a legislative body, a statute.
    • 2012 March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist‎[1], volume 100, number 2, page 87:
      But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.
  5. The process of doing something.
    He was caught in the act of stealing.
  6. (countable) A formal or official record of something done.
  7. (countable, drama) A division of a theatrical performance.
    • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Lisson Grove Mystery‎[2]:
      “H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what [...] will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]”
    The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.
  8. (countable) A performer or performers in a show.
    Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band?
  9. (countable) Any organized activity.
    • 1934, Babette Hughes, One egg: a farce in one act, page 46:
      The minute you let it be known you're planning a sales campaign everybody wants to get into the act.
  10. (countable) A display of behaviour.
  11. A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
  12. (countable) A display of behaviour meant to deceive.
    to put on an act
  14. (law) Ellipsis of act of parliament.

Synonyms Edit

Meronyms Edit

Holonyms Edit

Derived terms Edit

terms derived from act (noun)

Related terms Edit

terms related to act (noun)

Translations Edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb Edit

act (third-person singular simple present acts, present participle acting, simple past and past participle acted)

  1. (intransitive) To do something.
    If you don't act soon, you will be in trouble.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To do (something); to perform.
    • 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, “Signes of Purity of Intention”, in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC, page 23:
      that we act our temporal affairs with a deſire no greater than our neceſſity
    • a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). Of Industry in General”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:
      Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and facility of acting things expedient for us to do.
    • 1782, William Cowper, Expostulation:
      Uplifted hands that at convenient times / Could act extortion and the worst of crimes.
  3. (intransitive) To perform a theatrical role.
    I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre.
  4. (intransitive) Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).
    • 2011, Effiong Johnson, Play Production Processes, page 180:
      But whatever types he assumes, the need to have a good play which acts delightfully well before the audience, and to their delectation, is the dominant thrust. If the play acts well, the director gets the credits.
  5. (intransitive) To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time.
    A dog which acts aggressively is likely to bite.
    I believe that Bill's stuck-up because of the way that he acts.
    He's acting strangely - I think there's something wrong with him.
  6. (copulative) To convey an appearance of being.
    He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn't worry.
  7. (intransitive) To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.
    act on behalf of John
  8. (intransitive, construed with on or upon) To have an effect (on).
    High-pressure oxygen acts on the central nervous system and may cause convulsions or death.
    Gravitational force acts on heavy bodies.
  9. (transitive) To play (a role).
    He's been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve.
  10. (transitive) To feign.
    He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
      With acted fear the villain thus pursued.
  11. (mathematics, intransitive, construed with on or upon, of a group) To map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms (of).
    This group acts on the circle, so it can't be left-orderable!
  12. (obsolete, transitive) To move to action; to actuate; to animate.
  13. (obsolete, Scotland, transitive) To enact; to decree.[1]

Conjugation Edit

Conjugation of act
infinitive (to) act
present tense past tense
1st-person singular act acted
2nd-person singular act, actest† acted, actedst†
3rd-person singular acts, acteth† acted
plural act
subjunctive act acted
imperative act —
participles acting acted

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms Edit

terms derived from act (verb)

Related terms Edit

terms related to act (verb)

Translations Edit

to feign — see feign
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References Edit

  1. ^ “act, v.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Anagrams Edit

Middle English Edit

Noun Edit

act

  1. Alternative form of acte

Old Irish Edit

Conjunction Edit

act

  1. Alternative spelling of acht (“but”)

Romanian Edit

Etymology Edit

Borrowed from French acte, from Latin actus.

Pronunciation Edit

Noun Edit

act n (plural acte)

  1. act, deed, action

Declension Edit

Declension of act
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) act actul (niște) acte actele
genitive/dative (unui) act actului (unor) acte actelor
vocative actule actelor

Related terms Edit

See also Edit

Further reading Edit

Scots Edit

Pronunciation Edit

Noun Edit

act (plural acts)

  1. an act

Verb Edit

act (third-person singular simple present acts, present participle actin, simple past actit, past participle actit)

  1. act
  2. enact
  3. decree

References Edit

Welsh Edit

Etymology Edit

From English act.

Pronunciation Edit

Noun Edit

act f (plural actau)

  1. act

Derived terms Edit

Mutation Edit

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
act unchanged unchanged hact
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading Edit

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “act”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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