act.
Something done, a deed.
Meaning & usage
Something done, a deed.
an act of goodwill
Actuality.
Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.
A product of a legislative body, a statute.
(In the United States) A legislative proposal, a bill that has not yet become law.
The process of doing something.
He was caught in the act of stealing.
A formal or official record of something done.
A division of a theatrical performance.
The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.
A performer or performers in a show.
Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band?
Any organized activity.
A display of behaviour.
A display of behaviour. A display of behaviour meant to deceive.
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.
Ellipsis of act of parliament.
A regulation (see Usage notes).
Where this word comes from
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”).
To do something.
If you don’t act soon, you will be in trouble.
To do (something); to perform.
To perform a theatrical role.
I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre.
Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).
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.
To convey an appearance of being.
He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn’t worry.
To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.
act on behalf of John
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.
To play (a role).
He’s been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve.
To feign.
He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused.
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.
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!
To move to action; to actuate; to animate.
To enact; to decree.
Where this word comes from
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”).
Clipping of actually.
james did u act enjoy that juice? looked like u were gagging icl
Where this word comes from
Clipping of actually.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.