Emily Dickinson Lexicon

act, n. [Fr. < L. actus, a doing.] (webplay: cause, company, deed, do, equal, found, God, greater, heart, heroism, in the very act, instituted, law, Lord, made, man, mind, natural, offices, ordinary, preparation, process, scenes, signs, taken, thoughts, water, well, wind).

1. Role; design; purpose.
2. Agency; doings in life; what one chooses to do.
3. Accomplishment; achievement; success; skill; [fig.] a person who accomplished much.
4. Event; happening; [fig.] death.
5. Reality; fact; occurrence.
6. Dramatic performance; [fig.] curtain, as on a stage.
7. Deed; endeavor; action.
8. Phrase. “In the Act”: as it happens; at the time of occurrence.