Act, n.
Etymology: [L. actus, fr. agere to drive, do: cf. F. acte. See Agent.]
1. That which is done or doing; the exercise of power, or the effect, of which power exerted is the cause; a performance; a deed. That best portion of a good man's life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and of love. Wordsworth. Hence, in specific uses: (a) The result of public deliberation; the decision or determination of a legislative body, council, court of justice, etc.; a decree, edit, law, judgment, resolve, award; as, an act of Parliament, or of Congress. (b) A formal solemn writing, expressing that something has been done. Abbott. (c) A performance of part of a play; one of the principal divisions of a play or dramatic work in which a certain definite part of the action is completed. (d) A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
2. A state of reality or real existence as opposed to a possibility or possible existence. [Obs.] The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be. Hooker.
3. Process of doing; action. In act, in the very doing; on the point of (doing). "In act to shoot." Dryden. This woman was taken . . . in the very act. John viii. 4. Act of attainder. (Law) See Attainder. -- Act of bankruptcy (Law), an act of a debtor which renders him liable to be adjudged a bankrupt. -- Act of faith. (Ch. Hist.) See Auto-da-Fé. -- Act of God (Law), an inevitable accident; such extraordinary interruption of the usual course of events as is not to be looked for in advance, and against which ordinary prudence could not guard. -- Act of grace, an expression often used to designate an act declaring pardon or amnesty to numerous offenders, as at the beginning of a new reign. -- Act of indemnity, a statute passed for the protection of those who have committed some illegal act subjecting them to penalties. Abbott. -- Act in pais, a thing done out of court (anciently, in the country), and not a matter of record.
Syn. -- See Action.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Act, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acting.]
1. To move to action; to actuate; to animate. [Obs.] Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul. Pope.
2. To perform; to execute; to do. [Archaic] That we act our temporal affairs with a desire no greater than our necessity. Jer. Taylor. Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and facility of acting things expedient for us to do. Barrow. Uplifted hands that at convenient times Could act extortion and the worst of crimes. Cowper.
3. To perform, as an actor; to represent dramatically on the stage.
4. To assume the office or character of; to play; to personate; as, to act the hero.
5. To feign or counterfeit; to simulate. With acted fear the villain thus pursued. Dryden. To act a part, to sustain the part of one of the characters in a play; hence, to simulate; to dissemble. -- To act the part of, to take the character of; to fulfill the duties of.
Act, v. i.
1. To exert power; to produce an effect; as, the stomach acts upon food.
2. To perform actions; to fulfill functions; to put forth energy; to move, as opposed to remaining at rest; to carry into effect a determination of the will. He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest. Pope.
3. To behave or conduct, as in morals, private duties, or public offices; to bear or deport one's self; as, we know not why he has acted so.
4. To perform on the stage; to represent a character. To show the world how Garrick did not act. Cowper. To act as or for, to do the work of; to serve as. -- To act on, to regulate one's conduct according to. -- To act up to, to equal in action; to fulfill in practice; as, he has acted up to his engagement or his advantages.
Shades of meaning
An act is strictly and originally something accomplished by an exercise of power, in which sense it is synonymous with deed or effect. Action is a doing. Act is therefore single, individual, momentary; action a complex of acts, or a process, state, or habit of exerting power. We say a virtuous act, but rather a virtuous course of action. We speak of the action of an acid upon a metal, not of its act. Act is used, also, for the simple exertion of power; as, an act of will. In this sense an act does not necessarily imply an external effect, while an action does. Morally, the act of murder is in the determination to kill; legally, the act is not complete without the striking of the fatal blow. Act and deed are both used for the thing done, but act refers to the power put forth, deed to the result accomplished; as, a voluntary act, a bad deed. In connection with other words act is more usually qualified by the use of another noun, action by an adjective preceding; we may say a kind act, though oftener an act of kindness, but only a kind action, not an action of kindness. As between act and deed, deed is commonly used of great, notable, and impressive acts, as are achievement, exploit, and feat.
Festus: We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths.
BAILEY Festus, A Country Town, sc. 7.
A feat exhibits strength, skill, personal power, whether mental or physical, especially the latter; as, a feat of arms, a feat of memory. An exploit is a conspicuous or glorious deed, involving valor or heroism, usually combined with strength, skill, loftiness of thought, and readiness of resource; an achievement is the doing of something great and noteworthy; an exploit is brilliant, but its effect may be transient; an achievement is solid, and its effect enduring. Act and action are both in contrast to all that is merely passive and receptive. The intensest action is easier than passive endurance.