Etimology
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”).
noun
act (countable and uncountable, plural acts)
(countable) Something done, a deed.
(obsolete, uncountable) Actuality.
(theology) Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.
(law, countable) A product of a legislative body, a statute.
The process of doing something.
(countable) A formal or official record of something done.
(countable, drama) A division of a theatrical performance.
(countable) A performer or performers in a show.
(countable) Any organized activity.
(countable) A display of behaviour.
A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
(countable) A display of behaviour meant to deceive.
(law) Ellipsis of act of parliament.
Examples
an act of goodwill
That best portion of a good man's life, / His little, nameless, unremembered acts / Of kindness and of love.
The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be.
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.
He was caught in the act of stealing.
“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.
Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band?
The minute you let it be known you're planning a sales campaign everybody wants to get into the act.
to put on an act
Related words
synonyms
(something done): deed; see also Thesaurus:action
(product of a legislative body): statute
(display of behavior): pretense
meronyms
(drama): scene
holonyms
(drama): play
related terms
action
active
agency
agent
verb
act (third-person singular simple present acts, present participle acting, simple past and past participle acted)
(intransitive) To do something.
(obsolete, transitive) To do (something); to perform.
(intransitive) To perform a theatrical role.
(intransitive) Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).
(intransitive) To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time.
(copulative) To convey an appearance of being.
(intransitive) To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.
(intransitive, construed with on or upon) To have an effect (on).
(transitive) To play (a role).
(transitive) To feign.
(intransitive, law) To carry out work as a legal representative in relation to a particular legal matter.
(intransitive, mathematics, construed with on or upon, of a group) To map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms (of).
(obsolete, transitive) To move to action; to actuate; to animate.
(obsolete, Scotland, transitive) To enact; to decree.
Examples
If you don't act soon, you will be in trouble.
that we act our temporal affairs with a deſire no greater than our neceſſity
Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and facility of acting things expedient for us to do.
Uplifted hands that at convenient times / Could act extortion and the worst of crimes.
I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre.
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.
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.
He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn't worry.
act on behalf of John
High-pressure oxygen acts on the central nervous system and may cause convulsions or death.
Gravitational force acts on heavy bodies.
He's been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve.
He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused.
With acted fear the villain thus pursued.
A lawyer cannot act until they have been formally instructed by their client.
This group acts on the circle, so it can't be left-orderable!
Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul.
Related words
related terms
action
activate
active
deactivate
Etimology
Clipping of actually.
adverb
act (comparative more act, superlative most act)
(text messaging) Clipping of actually.
Examples
james did u act enjoy that juice? looked like u were gagging icl