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actual

Pronunciation: /ˈækʃuəl/

The English word “actual” has 7 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. relating to a person's acts or deeds; active, practical
  2. Existing in reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact.
  3. in action at the time being; now existing; current.
  4. Used as intensifier to emphasise a following noun; exact, specific, very.

noun

  1. something actually received; real receipts, as distinct from estimated ones.
  2. 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.
  3. Reality, usually with the definite article.

Etymology

From Middle English actual, actuel (“active”), from Anglo-Norman actuel, actual, and its source Late Latin actuālis (“active, practical”), from Latin actus (“act, action, performance”), from agere (“to do; to act”) + -alis (“-al”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti, from the root *h₂eǵ-. By surface analysis, act + -u- + -al.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.