Part 79

5. Requiring or implying action or exertion; -- opposed to sedentary or to tranquil; as, active employment or service; active scenes.

6. Given to action rather than contemplation; practical; operative; -- opposed to speculative or theoretical; as, an active rather than a speculative statesman.

7. Brisk; lively; as, an active demand for corn.

8. Implying or producing rapid action; as, an active disease; an active remedy.

9. (Gram.) (a) Applied to a form of the verb; -- opposed to passive. See Active voice, under Voice. (b) Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive. (c) Applied to all verbs that express action as distinct from mere existence or state.

Active capital, Active wealth, money, or property that may readily be converted into money.

Syn. -- Agile; alert; brisk; vigorous; nimble; lively; quick; sprightly; prompt; energetic.

Ac"tive*ly, adv. 1. In an active manner; nimbly; briskly; energetically; also, by one's own action; voluntarily, not passively.

2. (Gram.) In an active signification; as, a word used actively.

Ac"tive*ness, n. The quality of being active; nimbleness; quickness of motion; activity.

Ac*tiv"i*ty (&?;), n.; pl. Activities (&?;). [Cf. F. activité, LL. activitas.] The state or quality of being active; nimbleness; agility; vigorous action or operation; energy; active force; as, an increasing variety of human activities. "The activity of toil." Palfrey.

Syn. -- Liveliness; briskness; quickness.

Act"less (&?;), a. Without action or spirit. [R.]

Ac"ton (&?;), n. [OF. aketon, auqueton, F. hoqueton, a quilted jacket, fr. Sp. alcoton, algodon, cotton. Cf. Cotton.] A stuffed jacket worn under the mail, or (later) a jacket plated with mail. [Spelled also hacqueton.] [Obs.] Halliwell. Sir W. Scott.

Ac"tor (&?;), n. [L. actor, fr. agere to act.] 1. One who acts, or takes part in any affair; a doer.

2. A theatrical performer; a stageplayer.

After a well graced actor leaves the stage. Shak.

3. (Law) (a) An advocate or proctor in civil courts or causes. Jacobs. (b) One who institutes a suit; plaintiff or complainant.

Ac`tress (&?;), n. [Cf. F. actrice.] 1. A female actor or doer. [Obs.] Cockeram.

2. A female stageplayer; a woman who acts a part.

Ac"tu*al (#; 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, conceivable, 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 "original sin."

Syn. -- Real; genuine; positive; certain. See Real.

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