enact
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English enacten, from en-, from Old French en- (“to cause to be”), from Latin in- (“in”) and Old French acte (“perform, do”), from Latin actum, past participle of ago (“set in motion”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
enact (third-person singular simple present enacts, present participle enacting, simple past and past participle enacted)
- (transitive, law) to make (a bill) into law
- (transitive) to act the part of; to play
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:
- I did enact Julius Caesar.
- (transitive) to do; to effect
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene iv]:
- The king enacts more wonders than a man.
Derived termsEdit
Derived terms
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to make (a bill) into law
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to act the part of; to play
to do; to effect
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
NounEdit
enact
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for enact in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)