# actual

Pronunciation: US say "AK-choo-uhl" /ˈækʃuəl/; UK say "AK-tyoo-uhl" /ˈæktjʊəl/

## Adjective

1. Existing or happening in fact, rather than merely possible, assumed or estimated; often used to emphasize the exact person or thing meant, as opposed to a substitute or approximation.
   - Simple: Real, rather than imagined, expected or guessed. Also used to stress the exact person or thing you mean.
   - _The actual number of attendees far exceeded our estimate._
   - _Reports differed, but the actual cause of the fire turned out to be an electrical fault._
5. Relating to a person's acts or deeds; active and practical rather than merely intended.
   - Simple: Having to do with what a person really does, not just what they think or say.
   - _The sermon contrasted actual sins, which we commit by choice, with the condition we are born into._
   - _Theologians separate original sin, which everyone inherits, from the actual sins a person commits._

## Noun

2. A real financial figure, such as income or spending actually recorded, as distinct from an estimated, budgeted or forecast figure.
   - Simple: The real amount of money a business got or spent, not the amount it guessed or planned beforehand.
   - _Sales actuals for March came in well above the forecast._
   - _The board wants to see actuals, not projections, before it approves more spending._
3. Reality itself; what exists in fact, typically referred to with the definite article.
   - Simple: What is real, and not just imagined or hoped for.
   - _His writing dwells on the gap between the ideal and the actual._
   - _We must work with the actual, not with the world as we wish it to be._

## Adjective

4. Currently in action or existing at the present time; current. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Going on or existing right now.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A radio callsign modifier indicating the commanding officer of a unit in person, rather than a subordinate or stand-in transmitting under the same callsign.

## Origin

From Middle English actual ("active"), via Anglo-Norman actuel, from Late Latin actuālis ("active, practical"). This came from Latin actus ("act, action"), from agere ("to do, to act").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/actual (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).