LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinefourth declension

āctus1

āctus m (genitive āctūs)
Classical[ˈaːk.tʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈak.tus]

Meaning

  1. abstracta cattle drive, the act of driving cattle or a cart
  2. abstracta cattle path or narrow cart track
  3. concreteact, action, doing, deed
    actum est de aliquoIt is over for someone, the fate of someone is sealed
  4. the representation of a play or other public show
  5. a part, a character
  6. an act in a play
  7. figurativelya period, part
    extrēmus āctus aetātisthe last act of one's life
  8. historicalactus (a former Roman unit of length equal to 120 Roman feet (about 35.5 m))
  9. historicalactus (a former Roman unit of area equivalent to a square with sides of 1 actus (about 0.125 ha))

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeāctusāctūs
āctī
genitiveāctūs
āctī		āctuum
dativeāctuīāctibus
accusativeāctumāctūs
ablativeāctūāctibus
vocativeāctusāctūs
āctī

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

acti labores iucundi (proverb.)
rest after toil is sweet.

actus, ūs, m. ago.
I. A.. The moving or driving of an object, impulse, motion: linguae actu, Pacuv. ap. Non. 506, 17: mellis constantior est natura ... et cunctantior actus, Lucr. 3, 192: levi admonitu, non actu, inflectit illam feram, by driving, Cic. Rep. 2, 40: fertur in abruptum magno mons inprobus actu, Verg. A. 12, 687: pila contorsit violento spiritus actu, Sen. Agam. 432; hominum aut animalium actu vehiculum adhibemus, Cael. Aurel. Tard. 1, 1.— Hence,
B. Transf.
1. The right of driving cattle through a place, a passage for cattle: aquae ductus, haustus, iter, actus, Cic. Caec. 26; Ulp. Dig. 8, 3, 1.—
2. A road between fields; a cart- or carriage-way, Dig. 8, 1, 5; 8, 5, 4; 43, 19, 1 al.—And,
3. A measure or piece of land (in quo boves aguntur, cum aratur, cum impetu justo, Plin. 18, 59): actus minimus, 120 feet long and 4 feet wide: quadratus, 120 feet square; and duplicatus, 240 feet long and 120 feet wide, Varr. L. L. 5, § 34 Müll.; id. R. R. 1, 10; Paul. ex Fest. p. 17 Müll. Also a division made by bees in a hive, Plin. 11, 10, 10, § 22.
II. The doing or performing or a thing, an act, performance.
A. In gen. (so not in Cic.; for Leg. 1, 11, inst. of pravis actibus, is to be read, pravitatibus; but often in the post-Aug. per.): post actum operis, Quint. 2, 18, 1: in vero actu rei, id. 7, 2, 41: rhetorice in actu consistit, id. 2, 18, 2: donec residua diurni actus conficeret, Suet. Aug. 78; so id. Claud. 30: non consenserat actibus eorum, Vulg. Luc. 23, 51.—
B. Esp.
1. Public employment, business of state, esp. judicial: actus rerum, jurisdiction, Suet. Aug. 32; id. Claud. 15, 23; also absol. actus, Dig. 39, 4, 16; 40, 5, 41 al.—
2. The action accompanying oral delivery.
a. Of an orator: motus est in his orationis et actus, Quint. 9, 2, 4; 11, 3, 140.—
b. Of an actor: the representation of a play, a part, a character, etc.: neque enim histrioni, ut placeat, peragenda est fabula, modo in quocunque fuerit actu, probetur, Cic. de Sen. 19, 70: carminum actus, recital, Liv. 7, 2: histrionum actus, Quint. 10, 2, 11: in tragico quodam actu, cum elapsum baculum cito resumpsisset, Suet. Ner. 24.—Hence, also, a larger division of a play, an act: primo actu placeo, Ter. Hec. prol. 31: neque minor quinto, nec sit productior actu Fabula, Hor. A. P. 189, and trop. (in Cic. very often): extremus actus aetatis, Cic. de Sen. 2; id. Marcell. 9: quartus actus improbitatis, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 6; so id. Phil. 2, 14; id. Fam. 5, 12 al.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  3. Proto-Italic*agō
  4. Latināctus

Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin āctus From agō (“to do, make, drive”) + -tus (suffix forming fourth declension action nouns from verbs).

Descendants
  • Catalanacte
  • Frenchacte
  • Romanianactfrom French acte
  • GermanAkt
  • Italianatto
  • Occitanacte
  • Englishactfrom Old French acte
  • Portugueseautofrom Old Galician-Portuguese auto
  • Portugueseato
  • Sardinianatu

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesActusActus a Roman measure of land, which formed the basis of the whole system of land measurement. The word actus sometimes denotes a way between fields, …
verbfirst/second-declension participle
āctus2
āctus (feminine ācta, neuter āctum)
Classical[ˈaːk.tʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈak.tus]

Meaning

  1. participlemade, done, having been done

actus, a, um, P. a., from ago.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  3. Proto-Italic*agō
  4. Latināctus

Latin actus Perfect passive participle of agō (“make, do”). Compare Sanskrit अक्त (akta, “driven”).

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesActusActus a Roman measure of land, which formed the basis of the whole system of land measurement. The word actus sometimes denotes a way between fields, …

Quick answers

What does āctus mean in Latin?
āctus, a noun, means “act, action, doing, deed; actus (a former Roman unit of length equal to 120 Roman feet (about 35.5 m)); actus (a former Roman unit of area equivalent to a square with sides of 1 actus (about 0.125 ha))”.
What is the genitive of āctus?
The genitive singular is āctūs. āctus is masculine, fourth declension.
How do you pronounce āctus?
In classical Latin, [ˈaːk.tʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈak.tus].
Where does āctus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- → Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti → Proto-Italic *agō → Latin āctus.