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Colombo Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary

Actual meaning of 'actual'

For ages, and by many people, I've been told that 'actual' is a false friend between English and Spanish, since in Spanish 'actual' means 'present', 'current', whereas 'actual' in English means 'real'.

But today I've found http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/actual?s=t, which has surprised me. Does 'actual' really mean 'present' in English? Has it always been so?

Thank you.
  

Top answer

Colombo Does 'actual' really mean 'present' in English? Yes, in the context of the example. ), from Late Latin actualis "active, pertaining to action," adjectival form of Latin actus.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Colombo Does 'actual' really mean 'present' in English?
  • Yes, in the context of the example.
  • ), from Late Latin actualis "active, pertaining to action," adjectival form of Latin actus.
  • ) is from late 14c.
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4 Answers
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ColomboDoes 'actual' really mean 'present' in English?
Yes, in the context of the example.

Etymology:
early 14c., "pertaining to an action," from Old French actuel "now existing, up to date" (13c.), from Late Latin actualis "active, pertaining to action," adjectival form of Latin actus. The broader sense of "real, existing" (as opposed to potentia
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Thanks for the explanation! But is 'actual' still used nowadays with its original meaning? If I had read the sentence used as an example in the online dictionary I would have understood something like 'The ship is in fact 22 miles due east of Miami (not 5 miles, as we thought)', instead of 'The ship is at this very moment 22 miles due east of Miami'.
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The actual (present, current, accurate, factual -- all of these together) position of the ship is 5 miles ...

This meaning (present, current) is the second entry. That means that this meaning is not as common as the first (real, factual).

ac•tu•al
adj.
1. existing in act, fact, or reality; real: an actual case; the actual cost.
2. existing now
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