Actuals

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Referring to events or items that physically exist or have taken place, typically in a factual context
2. Representing the confirmed figures or statistics that demonstrate real outcomes or results in various fields
3. Describing tangible instances or occurrences that contrast with projected or theoretical estimates and forecasts

Etymology: "Actuals" is the plural of "actual" used as a noun, and its meaning has drifted far from the sense that the adjective carried when it first arrived in English. The adjective came into Middle English meaning "active," from Anglo-Norman "actuel" and the Late Latin "actuālis," meaning "active, practical." Its ultimate source is the Latin "actus," meaning "act, action, performance," which grew from the verb "agere," "to do or act." So the word began as a description of things that are in motion and doing something, not things that merely exist. The sense of "real, existing in fact" grew out of that active meaning, and the noun "actuals" took on the idea of concrete, verifiable events or items as opposed to plans, estimates or imagined possibilities. The plural form is the one that now sees the most use, as in "the actuals" set against a forecast or budget.

Synonyms: realities, facts, truths, verities, certainties

Antonyms: fictions, imaginations, theories, hypotheticals, possibilities