Actualism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A philosophical doctrine emphasizing the significance of actions and the present moment over potentialities and abstract ideas
2. A theory that prioritizes concrete realities and actions rather than hypotheticals and possibilities
3. A viewpoint advocating for the importance of real-life occurrences and decisions instead of merely speculative or theoretical concerns

Etymology: "Actualism" is a plain English compound: the adjective "actual," from Latin "actualis" (relating to action, from "actus," a doing), with the suffix "-ism," which English uses to form nouns for doctrines, systems, or viewpoints. Put together, the word names a position that puts real, existing occurrences ahead of abstract speculation. The suffix carries its own older history. It comes into English through Old French "-isme" from Latin "-ismus," which itself was borrowed from Ancient Greek "-ismos," a noun ending that formed names for actions, conditions, and doctrines. Greek also supplied the verb-forming ending "-izein," which is why many "-ism" words have sibling forms ending in "-ize." The result is a word whose parts are old and whose assembly is recent: the adjective and suffix were both long established in English before someone joined them to name a philosophical stance about real events rather than theories.