acting

C2+ Topic:Theater & Performance

US /ˈæktɪŋ/ UK /ˈaktɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the art of performing a role, or serving temporarily in a position

Her acting in the final scene moved the entire audience to tears.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the art of performing a... performance portrayal performing temporary interim provisional deputy

Opposites

permanent

Word family

Related forms act actor action active

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Etymology

From act + -ing, from Latin actus ('a doing, performance'), past participle of agere ('to do, drive, act').

actus Latin agere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Theater & Performance Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# acting

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈæktɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈaktɪŋ/

## Meanings
1. the art of performing a role, or serving temporarily in a position

## Examples
- Her acting in the final scene moved the entire audience to tears.

## Synonyms
- performance
- portrayal
- performing
- temporary
- interim
- provisional
- deputy

## Antonyms
- permanent

## Related Forms
- act
- actor
- action
- active

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: actus
- Root: agere

## Etymology
From act + -ing, from Latin actus ('a doing, performance'), past participle of agere ('to do, drive, act').

## AI Etymology
acting comes from act + -ing, from Latin actus ('a doing, performance'), past participle of agere ('to do, drive, act'). Morphologically, the word is transparent: -ing is attached to the older base named in the history, so the modern form packages an inherited or borrowed stem inside a later English derivative. In modern use, the noun sense is "the art of performing a role, or serving temporarily in a position", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as act, actor, action, active, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Latin actus, Latin agere, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Theater & Performance
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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