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.
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 (#), a. [L. aculeolus little needle.] (Bot.) Having small prickles or sharp points. Gray. AÏcu¶leÏous (#), a. Aculeate. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne. Ø AÏcu¶leÏus (#), n.; pl. Aculei (#). [L., dim. of acus needle.] 1. (Bot.) A prickle growing on the bark, as in some brambles and roses. Lindley. 2. (Zo”l.) A sting.