Where does “actual” come from?
Actual comes from Anglo-Norman actuel, a word of unknown ultimate origin whose sense development remains unattested in surviving sources.
actual (English): relating to a person's acts or deeds; active,...
Definitions
- relating to a person's acts or deeds; active,...
Ancestry of “actual”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | actual | actual, real, true |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | actuel | — |
| 3 | Old French | actual | — |
| 4 | Latin | actuālis | active, practical |
| 5 | Latin | āctus | made, done, having been done |
| 6 | Latin | agō | to act, to behave |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | agō | drive; push, impel; do, act |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂éǵeti | to be driving |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eǵ- | to drive |