actual

Adjective

WordNet 3.0

Adjective (5)

  1. presently existing in fact and not merely potential or possible“the predicted temperature and the actual temperature were markedly different”“actual and imagined conditions”Synonyms: existent
  2. taking place in reality; not pretended or imitated“we saw the actual wedding on television”“filmed the actual beating”
  3. being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something“her actual motive”“a literal solitude like a desert — G.K.Chesterton”“a genuine dilemma”Synonyms: genuineliteralreal
  4. existing in act or fact“rocks and trees...the actual world”“actual heroism”“the actual things that produced the emotion you experienced”Synonyms: factual
  5. being or existing at the present moment“the ship's actual position is 22 miles due south of Key West”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Actual \Ac"tu*al\, n. (Finance) Something actually received; real, as distinct from estimated, receipts. [Cant] [1913 Webster]

The accounts of revenues supplied . . . were not real receipts: not, in financial language, "actuals," but only Egyptian budget estimates. --Fortnightly Review. [1913 Webster]


Actual \Ac"tu*al\ (#; 135), a. [OE. actuel, F. actuel, L. actualis, fr. agere to do, act.]

1.Involving or comprising action; active. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Her walking and other actual performances.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
Let your holy and pious intention be actual; that is . . . by a special prayer or action, . . . given to God.— Jer. Taylor.[1913 Webster]

2.Existing in act or reality; really acted or acting; in fact; real; -- opposed to potential, possible, virtual, speculative, conceivable, theoretical, or nominal; as, the actual cost of goods; the actual case under discussion. [1913 Webster]

3.In action at the time being; now exiting; present; as the actual situation of the country. [1913 Webster]

Actual cautery. See under Cautery.

Actual sin (Theol.), that kind of sin which is done by ourselves in contradistinction to "original sin." [1913 Webster]

Syn: Real; genuine; positive; certain. See Real. [1913 Webster]

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