act

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable) Something done, a deed.
2. (obsolete, uncountable) Actuality.
3. (countable, uncountable) Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.
4. (countable) A product of a legislative body, a statute.
5. (countable) (In the United States) A legislative proposal, a bill that has not yet become law.
6. (countable, uncountable) The process of doing something.
7. (countable) A formal or official record of something done.
8. (countable) A division of a theatrical performance.
9. (countable) A performer or performers in a show.
10. (countable) Any organized activity.
11. (countable) A display of behaviour.
12. (countable) A display of behaviour.
13. (countable, uncountable) A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
14. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable) Ellipsis of act of parliament.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To do something.
2. (obsolete, transitive) To do (something); to perform.
3. (intransitive) To perform a theatrical role.
4. (intransitive) Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).
5. (intransitive) To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time.
6. (copulative) To convey an appearance of being.
7. (intransitive) To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.
8. (intransitive) To have an effect (on).
9. (transitive) To play (a role).
10. (transitive) To feign.
11. (intransitive) To carry out work as a legal representative in relation to a particular legal matter.
12. (intransitive) To possess an action onto (some other structure). Examples include the group action of a group on a set, the action of a ring on a module by scalar multiplication, and the action of a group or algebra on a vector space via a representation.
13. (obsolete, transitive) To move to action; to actuate; to animate.
14. (Scotland, obsolete, transitive) To enact; to decree.

Adv

Clipping of actually.

Synonyms

deed

action

do

perform

work

behave

play

make

operate

achievement

law

performance

conduct

move

function

affect

achieve

influence

accomplishment

behavior

operation

take action

run

doing

behaviour

serve

deal

statute

pretend

exploit

show

appear

activity

represent

decree

commit

conduct oneself

playact

portray

act as

manners

effect

enactment

document

carry out

impersonate

process

bill

give

practise

Translations

acte

agir

atto

Akt

actuar

acto

ato

Tat

agire

Handlung

jouer

handeln

faire

loi

πράξη

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ækt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: acte

Cognate with German: Akte

In summary

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”).

Sentences

The Scotland Act set out a four-year maximum term for each session of Parliament .