ACT

name
/ækt/UK/æk/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin ācta Old French actbor. Middle English acte English act 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”).

  1. derived from *h₂éǵeti
  2. derived from ācta
  3. derived from acte
  4. inherited from acte

Definitions

  1. Initialism of the Australian Capital Territory

    Initialism of the Australian Capital Territory: a federal territory of Australia.

    • Osteoporosis Australia is calling for the 'no hat, no play' policy in school playgrounds to be reassessed in the ACT and Tasmania, because children are not getting enough sunlight.
  2. Initialism of American College Test.

  3. Initialism of Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, a political party of New Zealand.

  4. + 31 more definitions
    1. An instance of a certain standardized college admissions test in the United States,…

      An instance of a certain standardized college admissions test in the United States, originally called the American College Test.

    2. Acronym of acceptance and commitment therapy.

    3. Something done, a deed.

      • an act of goodwill
      • That best portion of a good man's life, / His little, nameless, unremembered acts / Of kindness and of love.
    4. Actuality.

      • The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be.
    5. Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.

    6. A product of a legislative body, a statute.

      • 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.
    7. (In the United States) A legislative proposal, a bill that has not yet become law.

      • Under current law, employers can drag out the union election process... Under the PRO Act, workers and the NLRB set union election procedures. The employer is not involved.
    8. The process of doing something.

      • He was caught in the act of stealing.
    9. A formal or official record of something done.

    10. A division of a theatrical performance.

      • The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.
    11. A performer or performers in a show.

      • Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band?
    12. Any organized activity.

      • The minute you let it be known you're planning a sales campaign everybody wants to get into the act.
    13. A display of behaviour.

    14. A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree,…

      A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.

    15. Ellipsis of act of parliament.

    16. a regulation (see Usage notes)

    17. To do something.

      • If you don’t act soon, you will be in trouble.
    18. To do (something)

      To do (something); to perform.

      • 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.
    19. To perform a theatrical role.

      • I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre.
    20. Of a play

      Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).

      • 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.
    21. 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.
    22. To convey an appearance of being.

      • He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn’t worry.
    23. To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.

      • act on behalf of John
    24. 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.
    25. To play (a role).

      • He’s been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve.
    26. To feign.

      • He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused.
      • With acted fear the villain thus pursued.
    27. To carry out work as a legal representative in relation to a particular legal matter.

      • A lawyer cannot act until they have been formally instructed by their client.
    28. To possess an action onto (some other structure). Examples include the group action of a…

      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.

      • This group acts on the circle, so it can't be left-orderable!
    29. To move to action

      To move to action; to actuate; to animate.

      • Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul.
    30. To enact

      To enact; to decree.

    31. Clipping of actually.

      • james did u act enjoy that juice? looked like u were gagging icl

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for ACT. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA