enact

English

Etymology

From Middle English enacten, from en-, from Old French en- (“to cause to be”), from Latin in- (“in”) and Old French acte (“perform, do”), from Latin actum, past participle of ago (“set in motion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnækt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ækt

Verb

enact (third-person singular simple present enacts, present participle enacting, simple past and past participle enacted)

1. (transitive, law) to make (a bill) into law
2. (transitive) to act the part of; to play
   • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:

     I did enact Julius Caesar.

3. (transitive) to do; to effect
   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene iv]:

     The king enacts more wonders than a man.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• enactability
• enactable
• enactably

• enaction
• enactor

Related terms

• act

Translations

to make (a bill) into law

• Bulgarian: прокарвам (bg) (prokarvam)
• Finnish: säätää laki, hyväksyä laki
• French: promulguer (fr)
• Greek: θεσπίζω (el) (thespízo)

  Ancient: νομίζω (nomízō)

• Irish: reachtaigh, achtaigh
• Latin: scisco

• Manx: slattysee
• Maori: whakature, pāhi
• Portuguese: promulgar (pt), passar (pt)
• Russian: постановлять (ru) (postanovljatʹ), принима́ть (ru) (prinimátʹ)
• Spanish: promulgar (es)
• Swedish: anta (sv), stadga (sv), föreskriva (sv)

to act the part of; to play

• Bulgarian: играя ролята на (igraja roljata na)
• Finnish: näytellä (fi), esittää (fi)
• French: jouer (fr)
• German: spielen (de)
• Latin: scisco

• Manx: cloie
• Portuguese: interpretar (pt)
• Russian: игра́ть (ru) (igrátʹ)
• Spanish: interpretar (es)
• Swedish: spela (sv), uppföra (sv)

to do; to effect

• Finnish: soveltaa (fi)
• German: ausführen (de)
• Latin: scisco

• Portuguese: realizar (pt)
• Swedish: utföra (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: actuar (es)

Noun

enact

1. (obsolete) purpose; determination

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for enact in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)