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• act \act\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acting.] [L. actus, p. p. of agere to drive, lead, do; but influenced by E. act, n.] 1. To move to action; to actuate; to animate. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  2. To perform; to execute; to do. [Archaic] [1913 Webster]
  That we act our temporal affairs with a desire no greater than our necessity. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
  Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and facility of acting things expedient for us to do. --Barrow. [1913 Webster]
  Uplifted hands that at convenient times Could act extortion and the worst of crimes. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
  3. To perform, as an actor; to represent dramatically on the stage. [1913 Webster]
  4. To assume the office or character of; to play; to personate; as, to act the hero. [1913 Webster]
  5. To feign or counterfeit; to simulate. [1913 Webster]
  With acted fear the villain thus pursued. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  To act a part, to sustain the part of one of the characters in a play; hence, to simulate; to dissemble.
  To act the part of, to take the character of; to fulfill the duties of. [1913 Webster]
• act \act\ ([a^]kt), n. [L. actus, fr. agere to drive, do: cf. F. acte. See Agent.] 1. That which is done or doing; the exercise of power, or the effect, of which power exerted is the cause; a performance; a deed. [1913 Webster]
  That best portion of a good man's life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and of love. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster] Hence, in specific uses: (a) The result of public deliberation; the decision or determination of a legislative body, council, court of justice, etc.; a decree, edit, law, judgment, resolve, award; as, an act of Parliament, or of Congress. (b) A formal solemn writing, expressing that something has been done. --Abbott. (c) A performance of part of a play; one of the principal divisions of a play or dramatic work in which a certain definite part of the action is completed. (d) A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student. [1913 Webster]
  2. A state of reality or real existence as opposed to a possibility or possible existence. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]
  3. Process of doing; action. In act, in the very doing; on the point of (doing). "In act to shoot." --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  This woman was taken . . . in the very act. --John viii. 4. [1913 Webster]
  act of attainder. (Law) See Attainder.
  act of bankruptcy (Law), an act of a debtor which renders him liable to be adjudged a bankrupt.
  act of faith. (Ch. Hist.) See Auto-da-F['e].
  act of God (Law), an inevitable accident; such extraordinary interruption of the usual course of events as is not to be looked for in advance, and against which ordinary prudence could not guard.
  act of grace, an expression often used to designate an act declaring pardon or amnesty to numerous offenders, as at the beginning of a new reign.
  act of indemnity, a statute passed for the protection of those who have committed some illegal act subjecting them to penalties. --Abbott.
  act in pais, a thing done out of court (anciently, in the country), and not a matter of record. [1913 Webster]
  Syn: See Action. [1913 Webster]
• act \act\, v. i. 1. To exert power; to produce an effect; as, the stomach acts upon food. [1913 Webster]
  2. To perform actions; to fulfill functions; to put forth energy; to move, as opposed to remaining at rest; to carry into effect a determination of the will. [1913 Webster]
  He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  3. To behave or conduct, as in morals, private duties, or public offices; to bear or deport one's self; as, we know not why he has acted so. [1913 Webster]
  4. To perform on the stage; to represent a character. [1913 Webster]
  To show the world how Garrick did not act. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
  To act as or To act for, to do the work of; to serve as.
  To act on, to regulate one's conduct according to.
  To act up to, to equal in action; to fulfill in practice; as, he has acted up to his engagement or his advantages. [1913 Webster]
• act n 1: a legal document codifying the result of deliberations of a committee or society or legislative body [syn: act, enactment] 2: something that people do or cause to happen [syn: act, deed, human action, human activity] 3: a subdivision of a play or opera or ballet 4: a short theatrical performance that is part of a longer program; "he did his act three times every evening"; "she had a catchy little routine"; "it was one of the best numbers he ever did" [syn: act, routine, number, turn, bit] 5: a manifestation of insincerity; "he put on quite an act for her benefit" v 1: perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" [syn: act, move] [ant: forbear, refrain] 2: behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself; "You should act like an adult"; "Don't behave like a fool"; "What makes her do this way?"; "The dog acts ferocious, but he is really afraid of people" [syn: act, behave, do] 3: play a role or part; "Gielgud played Hamlet"; "She wants to act Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role"; "She played the servant to her husband's master" [syn: act, play, represent] 4: discharge one's duties; "She acts as the chair"; "In what capacity are you acting?" 5: pretend to have certain qualities or state of mind; "He acted the idiot"; "She plays deaf when the news are bad" [syn: act, play, act as] 6: be suitable for theatrical performance; "This scene acts well" 7: have an effect or outcome; often the one desired or expected; "The voting process doesn't work as well as people thought"; "How does your idea work in practice?"; "This method doesn't work"; "The breaks of my new car act quickly"; "The medicine works only if you take it with a lot of water" [syn: work, act] 8: be engaged in an activity, often for no particular purpose other than pleasure 9: behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting" [syn: dissemble, pretend, act] 10: perform on a stage or theater; "She acts in this play"; "He acted in `Julius Caesar'"; "I played in `A Christmas Carol'" [syn: act, play, roleplay, playact]
• act
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• act Architecture Characterization Template (DISA)
• act, civil law, contracts. A writing which states in a legal form that a thing has been said, done, or agreed. In Latin, Instrumentum. Merl. Rep.
  
• act. In the legal sense, this word may be used to signify the result of a public deliberation, the decision of a prince, of a legislative body, of a council, court of justice, or a magistrate. Also, a decree, edict, law, judgment, resolve, award, determination. Also, an instrument in writing to verify facts, as act of assembly, act of congress, act of parliament, act and deed. See Webster's Dict. Acts are civil or criminal, lawful or unlawful, public or private. 2. Public acts, usually denominated authentic, are those which have a public authority, and which have been made before public officers, are authorized by a public seal, have been made public by the authority of a magistrate, or which have been extracted and been properly authenticated from public records. 3. Acts under private signature are those which have been made by private individuals, under their hands. An act of this kind does not acquire the force of an authentic act, by being registered in the office of a notary. 5 N. S. 693; 8 N. S. 568 ; 3 L. R. 419 ; 8 N. S. 396 ; 11 M. R. 243; unless it has been properly acknowledged before the officer, by the parties to it. 5 N. S. 196. 4. Private acts are those made by private persons, as registers in relation to their receipts and expenditures, schedules, acquittances, and the like. Nov. 73, c. 2 ; Code, lib. 7, tit. 32, 1. 6; lib. 4, t. 21; Dig. lib. 22, tit.. 4; Civ. Code of Louis. art. 2231 to 2254; Toull. Dr. Civ. Francais, tom. 8, p. 94.
  
• act, legislation. A statute or law made by a legislative body; as an act of congress is a law by the congress of the United States; an act of assembly is a law made by a legislative assembly. If an act of assembly expire or be repealed while a proceeding under it is in fieri or pending, the proceeding becomes abortive; as a prosecution for an offence, 7 Wheat. 552; or a proceeding under insolvent laws. 1 Bl. R. 451; Burr. 1456 ; 6 Cranch, 208 ; 9 Serg. & Rawle, 283. 2. Acts are general or special; public or private. A general or public act is a universal rule which binds the whole community; of which the courts are bound to take notice ex officio. 3. Explanatory acts should not be enlarged by equity Blood's case, Comb. 410; although such acts may be allowed to have a retrospective operation. Dupin, Notions de Droit, 145. 9. 4. Private or special acts are rather exceptions, than rules; being those which operate only upon particular persons and private concerns; of these the courts are not bound to take notice, unless they are pleaded. Com. 85, 6; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 105.
  
• act, evidence. The act of one of several conspirators, performed in pursuance of the common design, is evidence against all of them. An overt act of treason must be proved by two witnesses. See Overt. 2. The terra. acts, includes written correspondence, and other papers relative to the design of the parties, but whether it includes unpublished writings upon abstract questions, though of a kindred nature, has been doubted, Foster's Rep. 198 ; 2 Stark. R. 116, 141. 3. In cases of partnership it is a rule that the act or declaration of either partner, in furtherance of the common object of the association, is the act of all. 1 Pet. R. 371 5 B. & Ald. 267. 4. And the acts. of an agent, in pursuance of his authority, will be binding on his principal. Greenl. Ev. Sec. 113.
  

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