Act \Act\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Acting.]
[L. actus, p. p. of agere to drive, lead, do; but
influenced by E. act, n.]
1. To move to action; to actuate; to animate. [Obs.]
Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul.
--Pope.
2. To perform; to execute; to do. [Archaic]
That we act our temporal affairs with a desire no
greater than our necessity. --Jer. Taylor.
Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and
facility of acting things expedient for us to do.
--Barrow.
Uplifted hands that at convenient times Could act
extortion and the worst of crimes. --Cowper.
3. To perform, as an actor; to represent dramatically on the
stage.
4. To assume the office or character of; to play; to
personate; as, to act the hero.
5. To feign or counterfeit; to simulate.
With acted fear the villain thus pursued. --Dryden.
To act a part, to sustain the part of one of the characters
in a play; hence, to simulate; to dissemble.
To act the part of, to take the character of; to fulfill
the duties of.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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