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, 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 "original sin."
Syn. -- Real; genuine; positive; certain. See Real.
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© Webster 1913.
Ac"tu*al (#), 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, "actuals," but only Egyptian budget estimates.
Fortnightly Review.
© Webster 1913.