actual

English Online Dictionary. What means actual‎? What does actual mean?

English

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-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæk(t)ʃ(u)əl/
• (dated, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæktj(ʊ)əl/
• (colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈæt͡ʃəl/
• Rhymes: -æktʃuəl, -æktʃəl, -ækʃuəl, -ækʃəl

Adjective

actual (not comparable)

1. (chiefly theology) relating to a person's acts or deeds; active, practical [from 14th c.]
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 18th c.]

   Synonym: present

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

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 (countable and uncountable, 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.

2. (uncountable) Reality, usually with the definite article.

See also

• certain
• genuine

References

Further reading

• “actual”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “actual”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• acault

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin actuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ək.tuˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ak.tuˈal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ac‧tu‧al

Adjective

actual m or f (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, 2025
• “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 actuālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aktuˈal/ [ɑk.t̪uˈɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ac‧tu‧al

Adjective

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 (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Interlingua

Adjective

actual

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

Related terms

Middle English

Alternative forms

• actuale, actualle, actuelle

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aktiu̯ˈaːl/, /ˈaktiu̯al/, /aktiu̯ˈɛːl/, /ˈaktiu̯ɛl/

Adjective

actual

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

Derived terms

• actualy

Descendants

• English: actual
• Scots: actual

References

• “actūā̆l, -ē̆l, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Occitan

Alternative forms

• actuau (Gascony)

Etymology

From Latin actuālis.

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)

1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of atual. Still used in countries where the agreement hasn't come into effect; may occur as a sporadic misspelling.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French actuel, from Latin actualis. By surface analysis, act +‎ -ual.

Adjective

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

1. present-day

Declension

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈak(t)wəl/

Adjective

actual (comparative mair actual, superlative maist actual)

1. actual

References

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

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin actuālis. Cognate with English actual although a false friend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɡˈtwal/ [aɣ̞ˈt̪wal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ac‧tual

Adjective

actual m or f (masculine and feminine 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

Noun

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 [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Anagrams

• culata