act

Pronunciation: enPR: ăkt, IPA^(key): /ækt/; (AAVE) IPA^(key): /æk/

Etymologie 1

Aus mengl. acte, aus afrz. acte, aus lat. ācta „Ereignisregister“, Plural von āctum „Erlass, Gesetz“, aus agere „tun, handeln“, letztlich aus uig. *h₂éǵeti. Vergleiche Deutsch Akte. Teilweise verdrängt engl. deed, aus aengl. dǣd, dt. „Handlung, Tat“.

Noun

act (countable and uncountable, plural acts)

(countable) Something done, a deed. [ quotations ▼]
an act of goodwill
(obsolete, uncountable) Actuality. [ quotations ▼]
(theology) Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.
(law, countable) A product of a legislative body, a statute. [ quotations ▼]
The process of doing something.
He was caught in the act of stealing.
(countable) A formal or official record of something done.
(countable, drama) A division of a theatrical performance. [ quotations ▼]
The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.
(countable) A performer or performers in a show.
Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band?
(countable) Any organized activity. [ quotations ▼]
(countable) A display of behaviour.
1. (countable) A display of behaviour meant to deceive. [ quotations ▼]
  to put on an act
A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
(law) Ellipsis of act of parliament.

Synonyms

(something done): deed; see also Thesaurus:action
(product of a legislative body): statute
(display of behavior): pretense

Meronyms

(drama): scene

Holonyms

(drama): play

Derived terms

Related terms

Verb

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

(intransitive) To do something.
If you don’t act soon, you will be in trouble.
(obsolete, transitive) To do (something); to perform. [ quotations ▼]
(intransitive) To perform a theatrical role.
I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre.
(intransitive) Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly). [ quotations ▼]
(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.
(copulative) To convey an appearance of being.
He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn’t worry.
(intransitive) To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.
act on behalf of John
(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.
(transitive) To play (a role).
He’s been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve.
(transitive) To feign. [ quotations ▼]
He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused.
(intransitive, law) 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.
(intransitive, mathematics, construed with on or upon, of an algebraic structure) 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!
(obsolete, transitive) To move to action; to actuate; to animate. [ quotations ▼]
(obsolete, Scotland, transitive) To enact; to decree.^[1]

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymologie 2

Clipping of actually.

Adverb

act (comparative more act, superlative most act)

(text messaging) Clipping of actually.
james did u act enjoy that juice? looked like u were gagging icl

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