different between actual vs apparent

English

Etymology

From Middle English actual, actuel (“active”), from Anglo-Norman actuel, actual, and its source Late Latin actu?lis (“active, practical”), from Latin actus (“act, action, performance”), from agere (“to do; to act”) + -alis (“-al”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?æk(t)?(?w)?l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ak(t)?j(?)?l/
• (dated, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?aktj(?)?l/

Adjective

actual (not comparable)

1. (chiefly theology) relating to a person's acts or deeds; active, practical [from 14th c.]
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, First Folio 1623, V.1:

     In this slumbry agitation, besides her walking, and other actuall performances, what (at any time) haue you heard her say?

   • 1946, The American Ecclesiastical Review, vol. 114:

     Apparently, the holy Doctor was referring to actual, rather than original, sin; yet the basis of his argument for Mary's holiness, the divine maternity, would logically lead to the conclusion that she was free from original sin also.

2. Existing in reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact. [from 14th c.]

   Synonym: real

   Antonyms: potential, possible, virtual, speculative, conceivable, theoretical, nominal, hypothetical, estimated

3. (now rare) in action at the time being; now existing; current. [from 16th c.]
   • c. 1793, Edward Gibbon, Memoirs of My Life, Penguin 1990, p. 85:

     To my actual feelings it seems incredible that I could ever believe that I believed in Transubstantiation!

4. Used as intensifier to emphasise a following noun; exact, specific, very. [from 18th c.]

   Synonym: present

   Antonyms: future, past

Usage notes

• In most Romance, Slavic and Germanic languages the cognate of actual means “current”. This meaning has also been used in English since the sixteenth century but is now rare due to a semantic shift.
• The phrase in actual fact has been proscribed by some prescriptivist sources as redundant.

Synonyms

• positive

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

actual (plural actuals)

1. an actual, real one; notably:
   1. (finance) something actually received; real receipts, as distinct from estimated ones.
   2. (military) a radio callsign modifier that specifies the commanding officer of the unit or asset denoted by the remainder of the callsign and not the officer's assistant or other designee.

      Bravo Six Actual, this is Charlie One. Come in, over. (The radio operator is requesting to speak to the commander of the unit under the call sign "Bravo Six.")

See also

• certain
• genuine

References

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• acault

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin actu?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /?k.tu?al/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ak.tu?al/

Adjective

actual (masculine and feminine plural actuals)

1. present, current
2. factual

Derived terms

Related terms

• actualitat

Further reading

• “actual” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “actual” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “actual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “actual” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin actu?lis.

Adverb

actual m or f (plural actuais)

1. current, present
2. factual, real, actual

Derived terms

Related terms

• actualidade

Further reading

• “actual” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Interlingua

Adjective

actual

1. present, current
2. factual
3. (philosophy) actual, real

Related terms

Middle English

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman actuel and Late Latin ?ctu?lis; equivalent to act +? -al.

Alternative forms

• actuale, actualle, actuelle

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aktiu??a?l/, /?aktiu?al/, /aktiu????l/, /?aktiu??l/

Adjective

actual

1. actual, real, true
2. (philosophy, theology) active

Derived terms

• actualy

Descendants

• English: actual
• Scots: actual

References

• “act???l, -??l, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Occitan

Alternative forms

• actuau (Gascon)

Etymology

From Latin actu?lis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

actual m (feminine singular actuala, masculine plural actuals, feminine plural actualas)

1. current

Derived terms

• actualament

Related terms

• actualitat

Portuguese

Adjective

actual m or f (plural actuais, comparable)

1. Superseded spelling of atual.

Romanian

Etymology

From French actuel, from Latin actualis.

Adjective

actual m or n (feminine singular actual?, masculine plural actuali, feminine and neuter plural actuale)

1. present-day

Declension

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ak(t)w?l/

Adjective

actual (comparative mair actual, superlative maist actual)

1. actual

References

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

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin actu?lis. Cognate with English actual although a false friend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a??twal/, [a???t?wal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

actual (plural actuales)

1. present, current
2. factual
3. (philosophy) actual, real
4. present-day

Usage notes

• Actual is a false friend, and does not mean the same as the English word actual. Spanish equivalents are shown above, in the "Translations" section of the English entry actual.

Derived terms

Related terms

• actualidad

Prepositional phrase

actual m (plural actuales)

1. (preceded by del) Of the current month, year, etc.

   Synonyms: corriente, presente

See also

• Appendix:False friends between English and Spanish

Further reading

• “actual” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Anagrams

• culata

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French apparent, Old French aparant, in turn from Latin apparens ?-entis, present participle of appareo.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??pæ.??nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??pæ.??nt/, /??p?.??nt/

Adjective

apparent (comparative more apparent, superlative most apparent)

1. Capable of being seen, or easily seen; open to view; visible to the eye, eyely; within sight or view.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV,

     […] Hesperus, that led / The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon, / Rising in clouded majesty, at length / Apparent queen unveiled her peerless light, / And o’er the dark her silver mantle threw.

2. Clear or manifest to the understanding; plain; evident; obvious; known; palpable; indubitable.
   • c. 1595–6, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John, Act IV, Scene 2,

     Salisbury: It is apparent foul-play; and ’tis shame / That greatness should so grossly offer it: / So thrive it in your game! and so, farewell.

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 20

     When I came to Renfield's room I found him lying on the floor on his left side in a glittering pool of blood. When I went to move him, it became at once apparent that he had received some terrible injuries.

3. Appearing to the eye or mind (distinguished from, but not necessarily opposed to, true or real); seeming.
   • 1785, Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, Essay II (“Of the Powers we have by means of our External Senses”), Chapter XIX (“Of Matter and of Space”),

     What George Berkeley calls visible magnitude was by astronomers called apparent magnitude.

   • 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second,

     To live on terms of civility, and even of apparent friendship.

   • 1911, Encyclopædia Britannica, “Aberration”,

     This apparent motion is due to the finite velocity of light, and the progressive motion of the observer with the earth, as it performs its yearly course about the sun.

Usage notes

• The word apparent has two common uses that are almost in opposition. One means roughly “clear; clearly true”, and serves to make a statement more decisive:

  It was apparent that no one knew the answer. (=No one knew the answer, and it showed.)

• The other is roughly “seeming; to all appearances”, and serves to make a statement less decisive:

  The apparent source of the hubbub was a stray kitten. (=There was a stray kitten, and it seemed to be the source of the hubbub.)

• The same ambivalence occurs with the derived adverb apparently, which usually means “seemingly” but can also mean “clearly”, especially when it is modified by another adverb, such as quite.

Synonyms

• (easy to see): visible, conspicuous, distinct, plain, obvious, clear
• (easy to understand): distinct, plain, obvious, clear, certain, evident, manifest, indubitable, notorious, transparent
• (seeming to be the case): illusory, superficial

Antonyms

• (within sight or view): hidden, invisible
• (clear to the understanding): ambiguous, obscure

Derived terms

• apparency
• apparent horizon
• apparent time
• apparently
• apparentness
• heir apparent

Related terms

• apparition
• appear
• appearance

Translations

References

• apparent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• trappean

French

Etymology

From Old French aparent, aparant, borrowed from Latin apparens, apparentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pa.???/

Adjective

apparent (feminine singular apparente, masculine plural apparents, feminine plural apparentes)

1. apparent (all senses)

Derived terms

• héritier apparent

Related terms

• apparemment
• apparence
• apparaître
• apparoir

Further reading

• “apparent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

apparent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of app?re?
2. third-person plural present active subjunctive of appar?