9. (Gram.) (a) Applied to a form of the verb; - opposed to passive. See Active voice, under Voice. (b) Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive. (c) Applied to all verbs that express action as distinct from mere existence or state.
Active capital, Active wealth, money, or property that may readily be converted into money.
Syn. - Agile; alert; brisk; vigorous; nimble; lively; quick; sprightly; prompt; energetic.
Ac¶tiveÏly, adv. 1. In an active manner; nimbly; briskly; energetically; also, by one's own action; voluntarily, not passively.
2. (Gram.) In an active signification; as, a word used actively.
Ac¶tiveÏness, n. The quality of being active; nimbleness; quickness of motion; activity.
AcÏtiv¶iÏty (#), n.; pl. Activities (#). [Cf. F. activit‚, LL. activitas.] The state or quality of being active; nimbleness; agility; vigorous action or operation; energy; active force; as, an increasing variety of human activities. ½The activity of toil.¸
Palfrey.
Syn. - Liveliness; briskness; quickness.
Act¶less (#), a. Without action or spirit. [R.]
Ac¶ton (#), n. [OF. aketon, auqueton, F. hoqueton, a quilted jacket, fr. Sp. alcoton, algodon, cotton. Cf. Cotton.] A stuffed jacket worn under the mail, or (later) a jacket plated with mail. [Spelled also hacqueton.] [Obs.]
Halliwell. Sir W. Scott.
Ac¶tor (#), n. [L. actor, fr. agere to act.] 1. One who acts, or takes part in any affair; a doer.
2. A theatrical performer; a stageplayer.
After a well graced actor leaves the stage.
Shak.
3. (Law) (a) An advocate or proctor in civil courts or causes. Jacobs. (b) One who institutes a suit; plaintiff or complainant.
Ac·tress (#), n. [Cf. F. actrice.] 1. A female actor or doer. [Obs.]
Cockeram.
2. A female stageplayer; a woman who acts a part.
Ac¶tuÏal (#; 135), a. [OE. actuel, F. actuel, L. actualis, fr. agere to do, act.] 1. Involving or comprising action; active. [Obs.]
Her walking and other actual performances.
Shak.
Let your holy and pious intention be actual; that is … by a special prayer or action, … given to God.
Jer. Taylor.
2. Existing in act or reality; really acted or acting; in fact; real; - opposed to potential, possible, virtual, speculative, coceivable, theoretical, or nominal; as, the actual cost of goods; the actual case under discussion.
3. In action at the time being; now exiting; present; as the actual situation of the country.
Actual cautery. See under Cautery. - Actual sin (Theol.), that kind of sin which is done by ourselves in contradistinction to ½original sin.¸
Syn. - Real; genuine; positive; certain. See Real.
p. 19
Ac¶tuÏal (#), n. (Finance) Something actually received; real, as distinct from estimated, receipts. [Cant]
The accounts of revenues supplied … were not real receipts: not, in financial language,½actuals,¸ but only Egyptian budget estimates.
Fortnightly Review.
Ac¶tuÏalÏist, n. One who deals with or considers actually existing facts and conditions, rather than fancies or theories; Ð opposed to idealist.
J. Grote.
Ac·tuÏal¶iÏty (#), n.; pl. Actualities (#). The state of being actual; reality; as, the actuality of God's nature.
South.
Ac·tuÏalÏiÏza¶tion (#), n. A making actual or really existent. [R.]
Emerson.
Ac¶tuÏalÏize (#), v. t. To make actual; to realize in action. [R.]
Coleridge.
Ac¶tuÏalÏly, adv. 1. Actively. [Obs.] ½Neither actually … nor passively.¸
Fuller.
2. In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.
Ac¶tuÏalÏness, n. Quality of being actual; actuality.
Ac·tuÏa¶riÏal (#), a. Of or pertaining to actuaries; as, the actuarial value of an annuity.
Ac¶tuÏaÏry (#), n.; pl. Actuaries (#). [L. actuarius copyist, clerk, fr. actus, p. p. of agere to do, act.] 1. (Law) A registar or clerk; Ð used originally in courts of civil law jurisdiction, but in Europe used for a clerk or registar generally.
2. The computing official of an insurance company; one whose profession it is to calculate for insurance companies the risks and premiums for life, fire, and other insurances.
Ac¶tuÏate (#), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Actuated (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Actuating (#).] [LL. actuatus, p. p. of actuare, fr. L. actus act.] 1. To put into action or motion; to move or incite to action; to influence actively; to move as motives do; Ð more commonly used of persons.
Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion.
Johnson.
Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it.
Addison.
2. To carry out in practice; to perform. [Obs.] ½To actuate what you command.¸
Jer. Taylor.
Syn. Ð To move; impel; incite; rouse; instigate; animate.
Ac¶tuÏate (#), a. [LL. actuatus, p. p. of actuare.] Put in action; actuated. [Obs.]
South.
Ac·tuÏa¶tion (#), n. [Cf. LL. actuatio.] A bringing into action; movement.
Bp. Pearson.
Ac¶tuÏa·tor (#), n. One who actuates, or puts into action. [R.]
Melville.
Ac¶tuÏose· (#), a. [L. actuosus.] Very active. [Obs.]
Ac·tuÏos¶iÏty (#), n. Abundant activity. [Obs.]
Dr. H. More.
Ac¶ture (#), n. Action. [Obs.]
Shak.
AcÏtu¶riÏence (#), n. [A desid. of L. agere, actum, to act.] Tendency or impulse to act. [R.]
Acturience, or desire of action, in one form or another, whether as restlessness, ennui, dissatisfaction, or the imagination of something desirable.
J. Grote.
Ac¶uÏate (#), v. t. [L. acus needle.] To sharpen; to make pungent; to quicken. [Obs.] ½[To] acuate the blood.¸
Harvey.
Ac¶uÏate (#), a. Sharpened; sharpÐpointed.
Ac·uÏa¶tion (#), n. Act of sharpening. [R.]
Ac·uÏi¶tion (#), n. [L. acutus, as if acuitus, p. p. of acuere to sharpen.] The act of sharpening. [Obs.]
AÏcu¶iÏty (#), n. [LL. acuitas: cf. F. acuit‚.] Sharpness or acuteness, as of a needle, wit, etc.
AÏcu¶leÏate (#), a. [L. aculeatus, fr. aculeus, dim. of acus needle.] 1. (Zo”l.) Having a sting; covered with prickles; sharp like a prickle.
2. (Bot.) Having prickles, or sharp points; beset with prickles.
3. Severe or stinging; incisive. [R.]
Bacon.
AÏcu¶leÏa·ted (#), a. Having a sharp point; armed with prickles; prickly; aculeate.
AÏcu¶leÏiÏform (#), a. Like a prickle.
AÏcu¶leÏoÏlate