different between act vs active

English

Etymology

From Middle English acte, from Old French acte, from Latin ?cta (“register of events”), plural of ?ctum (“decree, law”), from ag? (“put in motion”). Compare German Akte (“file”). Partially displaced deed, from Old English d?d (“act, deed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ækt/
• (AAVE) IPA^(key): /æk/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

act (countable and uncountable, plural acts)

1. (countable) Something done, a deed.
   • 1798, William Wordsworth, Lines

     That best portion of a good man's life, / His little, nameless, unremembered acts / Of kindness and of love.

2. (obsolete, uncountable) Actuality.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be.

3. (theology) Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.
4. (countable) A product of a legislative body, a statute.
5. The process of doing something.

6. (countable) A formal or official record of something done.
7. (countable, drama) A division of a theatrical performance.

8. (countable) A performer or performers in a show.

9. (countable) Any organized activity.
10. (countable) A display of behaviour.
11. A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
12. (countable) A display of behaviour meant to deceive.

    to put on an act

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

Translations

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To do something.

2. (obsolete, transitive) To do (something); to perform.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, Purity of Intention

     that we act our temporal affairs with a desire no greater than our necessity

   • a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, Of Industry in General (sermon)

     Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and facility of acting things expedient for us to do.

   • 1782, William Cowper, Expostulation

     Uplifted hands that at convenient times / Could act extortion and the worst of crimes.

3. (intransitive) To perform a theatrical role.

4. (intransitive) Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).
5. (intransitive) To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time.

6. (copulative) To convey an appearance of being.

7. (intransitive) To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.

8. (intransitive, construed with on or upon) To have an effect (on).

9. (transitive) To play (a role).

10. (transitive) To feign.

    • With acted fear the villain thus pursued.

11. (mathematics, intransitive, construed with on or upon, of a group) To map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms (of).

12. (obsolete, transitive) To move to action; to actuate; to animate.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• ATC, CAT, CTA, Cat, TAC, TCA, cat, tac

Middle English

Noun

act

1. Alternative form of acte

Old Irish

Conjunction

act

1. Alternative spelling of acht (“but”)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French acte, from Latin actus.

Noun

act n (plural acte)

1. act, deed, action

Related terms

• ac?iune

See also

• fapt, fapt?
• lucru

Further reading

• act in DEX online - Dic?ionare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ak(t)/

Noun

act (plural acts)

1. an act

Verb

act (third-person singular present acts, present participle actin, past actit, past participle actit)

1. act
2. enact
3. decree

References

• Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

Welsh

Etymology

From English act.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /akt/

Noun

act f (plural actau)

1. act

Derived terms

• Actau'r Apostolion (“Acts of the Apostles”)
• actio (“to act”)
• actor (“actor”)
• actores (“actress”)

Mutation

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “act”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

English

Etymology

From Middle English actyf, from Old French actif, from Latin activus, from agere (“to do, to act”); see act.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æk.t?v/
• Rhymes: -ækt?v

Adjective

active (comparative more active, superlative most active)

1. Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting;—opposed to passive, that receives.

   Synonym: acting

   Antonym: passive

2. Quick in physical movement; of an agile and vigorous body; nimble.

   Synonyms: agile, nimble

   Antonyms: passive, indolent, still

3. In action; actually proceeding; working; in force

   Synonyms: in action, working, in force

   Antonyms: quiescent, dormant, extinct

   1. (specifically, of certain geological features, such as volcano, geysers, etc) Emitting hot materials, such as lava, smoke, or steam, or producing tremors.
4. Given to action; constantly engaged in action; energetic; diligent; busy

   • This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. […] He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.

   Synonyms: busy, deedful, diligent, energetic

   Antonyms: dull, sluggish, indolent, inert

5. Requiring or implying action or exertion

   Synonym: operative

   Antonyms: passive, tranquil, sedentary

6. Given to action rather than contemplation; practical; operative

   Antonyms: theoretical, speculative

7. Brisk; lively.

8. Implying or producing rapid action.

   Antonyms: passive, slow

9. (heading, grammar) About verbs.
   1. Applied to a form of the verb; — opposed to passive. See active voice.
   2. Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive.
   3. Applied to all verbs that express action as distinct from mere existence or state.
10. (computing, of source code) Eligible to be processed by a compiler or interpreter.
11. (electronics) Not passive.
12. (gay sexual slang) (of a homosexual man) enjoying a role in anal sex in which he penetrates, rather than being penetrated by his partner.

    Synonym: top

    Antonyms: passive, bottom

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:active

Derived terms

Related terms

• act

Translations

See also

• versatile (in relation to sense 10)

Noun

active (plural actives)

1. A person or thing that is acting or capable of acting.
   • 1989, The Alcalde (volume 78, number 2, page 11)

     "Alumni could become more active in giving guidance and leadership to students. They act as sort of a 'maturity governor' on fraternities," notes Ratliff, citing surveys suggesting that fraternity actives presume mistakenly that alumni want hazing […]

2. (electronics) Any component that is not passive. See Passivity (engineering).
   • 2013, David Manners, Hitchhikers' Guide to Electronics in the '90s (page 36)

     Components are split into two broad segments: actives and passives. Active components like the vacuum tube and the transistor contain the power to generate and alter electrical signals.

Further reading

• active in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• active in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Cavite

Asturian

Verb

active

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of activar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of activar

French

Adjective

active

1. feminine singular of actif

Verb

active

1. first-person singular present indicative of activer
2. third-person singular present indicative of activer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of activer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of activer
5. second-person singular imperative of activer

Anagrams

• cavité

German

Alternative forms

• aktive

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin ?ct?v?.

Adverb

active

1. (grammar, obsolete) actively

Etymology 2

Adjective

active

1. inflection of activ:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Interlingua

Adjective

active (not comparable)

1. active

Related terms

• action
• activitate

Latin

Etymology 1

Adverb

?ct?v? (comparative ?ct?vius, superlative ?ct?vissim?)

1. (grammar) actively

Etymology 2

Adjective

?ct?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of ?ct?vus

References

• active in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• active in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.

Middle English

Adjective

active

1. Alternative form of actyf

Noun

active

1. Alternative form of actyf

Portuguese

Verb

active

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of activar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of activar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of activar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of activar

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ak?ti.ve]

Adjective

active

1. nominative feminine plural of activ
2. accusative feminine plural of activ
3. nominative neuter plural of activ
4. accusative neuter plural of activ

Spanish

Verb

active

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of activar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of activar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of activar.