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.
p. 19
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.
AÏcu¶men (#), n. [L. acumen, fr. acuere to sharpen. Cf. Acute.] Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind; the faculty of nice discrimination.
Selden.
Syn. Ð Sharpness; sagacity; keenness; shrewdness; acuteness.
AÏcu¶miÏnate (#), a. [L. acuminatus, p. p. of acuminare to sharpen, fr. acumen. See Acumen.] Tapering to a point; pointed; as, acuminate leaves, teeth, etc.
AÏcu¶miÏnate (#), v. t. To render sharp or keen. [R.] ½To acuminate even despair.¸
Cowper.
AÏcu¶miÏnate, v. i. To end in, or come to, a sharp point. ½Acuminating in a cone of prelacy.¸
Milton.
AÏcu·miÏna¶tion (#), n. A sharpening; termination in a sharp point; a tapering point.
Bp. Pearson.
AÏcu¶miÏnose· (#), a. Terminating in a flat, narrow end.
Lindley.
AÏcu¶miÏnous (#), a. Characterized by acumen; keen.
Highmore.
Ac·uÏpres¶sure (#), n. [L. acus needle + premere, pressum, to press.] (Surg.) A mode of arresting hemorrhage resulting from wounds or surgical operations, by passing under the divided vessel a needle, the ends of which are left exposed externally on the cutaneous surface.
Simpson.
Ac·uÏpunc·tuÏra¶tion (#), n. See Acupuncture.
Ac·uÏpunc¶ture (#), n. [L. acus needle + punctura a pricking, fr. pungere to prick: cf. F. acuponcture.] Pricking with a needle; a needle prick. Specifically (Med.): The insertion of needles into the living tissues for remedial purposes.
Ac·uÏpunc¶ture (#), v. t. To treat with acupuncture.
AÏcus¶tumÏaunce (#), n. See Accustomance. [Obs.]
AÏcut¶an·guÏlar (#), a. AcuteÐangled.
AÏcute¶ (#), a. [L. acutus, p. p. of acuere to sharpen, fr. a root ak to be sharp. Cf. Ague, Cute, Edge.] 1. Sharp at the end; ending in a sharp point; pointed; Ð opposed to blunt or obtuse; as, an acute angle; an acute leaf.
2. Having nice discernment; perceiving or using minute distinctions; penetrating; clever; shrewd; Ð opposed to dull or stupid; as, an acute observer; acute remarks, or reasoning.
3. Having nice or quick sensibility; susceptible to slight impressions; acting keenly on the senses; sharp; keen; intense; as, a man of acute eyesight, hearing, or feeling; acute pain or pleasure.
4. High, or shrill, in respect to some other sound; Ð opposed to grave or low; as, an acute tone or accent.
5. (Med.) Attended with symptoms of some degree of severity, and coming speedily to a crisis; Ð opposed to chronic; as, an acute disease.
Acute angle (Geom.), an angle less than a right angle.
Syn. Ð Subtile; ingenious; sharp; keen; penetrating; sagacious; sharp Ð witted; shrewd; discerning; discriminating. See Subtile.
AÏcute¶, v. t. To give an acute sound to; as, he acutes his rising inflection too much. [R.]
Walker.
AÏcute¶Ïan·gled (#), a. Having acute angles; as, an acuteÐangled triangle, a triangle with every one of its angles less than a right angle.
AÏcute¶ly, adv. In an acute manner; sharply; keenly; with nice discrimination.
AÏcute¶ness, n. 1. The quality of being acute or pointed; sharpness; as, the acuteness of an angle.
2. The faculty of nice discernment or perception; acumen; keenness; sharpness; sensitiveness; Ð applied to the senses, or the understanding. By acuteness of feeling, we perceive small objects or slight impressions: by acuteness of intellect, we discern nice distinctions.
Perhaps, also, he felt his professional acuteness interested in bringing it to a successful close.
Sir W. Scott.
3. Shrillness; high pitch; Ð said of sounds.
4. (Med.) Violence of a disease, which brings it speedily to a crisis.
Syn. Ð Penetration; sagacity; keenness; ingenuity; shrewdness; subtlety; sharpÐwittedness.
AÏcu·tiÏfo¶liÏate (#), a. [L. acutus sharp + folium leaf.] (Bot.) Having sharpÐpointed leaves.
AÏcu·tiÏlo¶bate (#), a. [L. acutus sharp + E. lobe.] (Bot.) Having acute lobes, as some leaves.
Ø AdÏ(#). [A Latin preposition, signifying to. See At.] As a prefix adÐ assumes the forms acÐ, afÐ, agÐ, alÐ, anÐ, apÐ, arÐ, asÐ, atÐ, assimilating the d with the first letter of the word to which adÐ is prefixed. It remains unchanged before vowels, and before d, h, j, m, v. Examples: adduce, adhere, adjacent, admit, advent, accord, affect, aggregate, allude, annex, appear, etc. It becomes acÐ before qu, as in acquiesce.
AdÏact¶ (#), v. t. [L. adactus, p. p. of adigere.] To compel; to drive. [Obs.]
Fotherby.
AÏdac¶tyl (#), AÏdac¶tylÏous (#),} a. [Gr. ? priv. + ? finger.] (Zo”l.) (a) Without fingers or without toes. (b) Without claws on the feet (of crustaceous animals).
Ad¶age (#), n. [F. adage, fr. L. adagium; ad + the root of L. aio I say.] An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a proverb.
Letting ½I dare not¸ wait upon ½I would,¸
Like the poor cat i' the adage.
Shak.
Syn. Ð Axiom; maxim; aphorism; proverb; saying; saw; apothegm. See Axiom.
AÏda¶giÏal (#), a. Pertaining to an adage; proverbial. ½Adagial verse.¸
Barrow.
Ø AÏda¶gio (#), a. & adv. [It. adagio; ad (L. ad) at + agio convenience, leisure, ease. See Agio.] (Mus.) Slow; slowly, leisurely, and gracefully. When repeated, adagio, adagio, it directs the movement to be very slow.
Ø AÏda¶gio, n. A piece of music in adagio time; a slow movement; as, an adagio of Haydn.
Ad¶am (#), n. 1. The name given in the Bible to the first man, the progenitor of the human race.
2. (As a symbol) ½Original sin;¸ human frailty.
And whipped the offending Adam out of him.
Shak.
Adam's ale, water. [Colloq.] Ð Adam's apple. 1. (Bot.) (a) A species of banana (Musa paradisiaca). It attains a height of twenty feet or more. Paxton. (b) A species of lime (Citris limetta). 2. The projection formed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck. It is particularly prominent in males, and is so called from a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit (an apple) sticking in the throat of our first parent. Ð Adam's flannel (Bot.), the mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Ð Adam's needle (Bot.), the popular name of a genus (Yucca) of liliaceous plants.