different between embody vs enact

English

Etymology

em- +? body

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?b?di/
• Rhymes: -?di

Verb

embody (third-person singular simple present embodies, present participle embodying, simple past and past participle embodied)

1. (transitive) To represent in a physical or concrete form; to incarnate or personify.

   As the car salesman approached, wearing a plaid suit and slicked-back hair, he seemed to embody sleaze.

   • The soul, while it is embodied, can no more be divided from sin.
2. (transitive) To represent in some other form, such as a code of laws.

   The US Constitution aimed to embody the ideals of diverse groups of people, from Puritans to Deists.

   The principle was recognized by some of the early Greek philosophers who embodied it in their systems.

3. (transitive) To comprise or include as part of a cohesive whole; to be made up of.
   • 1962, Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office (page 1261)

     For use in a nursery for cradling a baby to sleep, a baby cradler comprising, in combination, a stand embodying a mobile base, uprights attached to and rising perpendicularly from the base and having axially aligned bearings, [...]

4. (intransitive) To unite in a body or mass.

Synonyms

• (represent in physical form): actualize, concretize, effigiate, materialize, objectify, realize, reify, thingify
• (include or represent): embrace, encompass, enfold
• (unite in a body or mass): fuse, integrate, merge; see also Thesaurus:coalesce

Derived terms

• disembody
• embodiment

Translations

Anagrams

• boydem

English

Etymology

From Middle English enacten, from en-, from Old French en- (“to cause to be”), from Latin in- (“in”) and Old French acte (“perform, do”), from Latin actum, past participle of ago (“set in motion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Verb

enact (third-person singular simple present enacts, present participle enacting, simple past and past participle enacted)

1. (transitive, law) to make (a bill) into law
2. (transitive) to act the part of; to play
3. (transitive) to do; to effect

Derived terms

Related terms

• act

Translations

Noun

enact

1. (obsolete) purpose; determination