Actual vs Prevailing - What's the difference?
actual | prevailing |
Existing in act or reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
, volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Factual, real, not just apparent or even false.
*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=1 (dated) In action at the time being; now existing; current.
(obsolete) Active, not passive.
* Shakespeare
* Jeremy Taylor
Used to emphasise a noun or verb, whether something is real or metaphorical.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= An actual, real one; notably:
# (finance) Something actually received; real receipts, as distinct from estimated ones.
# (military) A radio callsign modifier that specifies the commanding officer of the unit or asset denoted by the remainder of the callsign and not the officer's assistant or other designee.
Predominant; of greatest force.
* '', reprinted in 1797, John Bell, ''Bell's British Theatre , Volume 33,
* 1807 , , The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner ,
* 1826 , , House of Commons Papers , Volume 17,
Prevalent, common, widespread.
* 1829 , James Annesley, Sketches of the Most Prevalent Diseases of India ,
* 1832 , David Brewster, Spain'', entry in ''The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia , Volume 17,
* 1940 , Australian Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, Official Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia No. 33 - 1940 ,
As adjectives the difference between actual and prevailing
is that actual is existing in act or reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact while prevailing is predominant; of greatest force.As a noun actual
is an actual, real one; notably:.As a verb prevailing is
.actual
English
Adjective
(-)Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution, passage=They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.}}
citation, passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}
- her walking and other actual performances.
- Let your holy and pious intention be actual ; that is given to God.
The machine of a new soul, passage=The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure. Yet this is the level of organisation that does the actual thinking—and is, presumably, the seat of consciousness.}}
Usage notes
* In some foreign languages the counterpart of (actual) means “current”. This meaning also occurs in English written by non-native speakers, but is nonstandard English. * The phrase (term) is criticised by many as redundant., page 3Synonyms
* (existing in act or reality) real * (in action at the time being) present * positiveAntonyms
* (existing in act or reality) potential, possible, virtual, speculative, conceivable, theoretical, nominal, hypothetical, estimated * (in action at the time being) future, pastDerived terms
* actualism * actualist * actuality * actualize * actualization * actuallyNoun
(en noun)- "Bravo Six Actual , Snakebite leader" (The person with the callsign "Snakebite leader" requests to speak to the commander of company Bravo and not the radio operator.)
See also
* certain * genuineReferences
External links
* *Anagrams
* ----prevailing
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- The prevailing opinion was for additional planning time.
page 37 (within play),
- He has a humour more prevailing than his curiosity, and will willingly dispense with the hearing of one scandalous story, to avoid giving an occasion to make another, by being seen to walk with his wife.
page 187,
- and as merciful coun?els are mo?t prevailing when earne?tly pre??ed, ?o I got them to be of the ?ame opinion as to clemency.
page 411,
- I have heard generally that alderman Archer has a more prevailing and powerful influence in the commons than any other alderman, and exercises that influence ;
page 247,
- Fever'' and ''dysentery are the most prevailing diseases in this division, more particularly the latter, which is one of the most destructive amongst the troops in India, and particularly so in the European constitution.
page 371,
- One of the most prevailing defects in this people is their invincible indolence, and hatred of labour, which has, at all times, paralysed the government of their best princes, and impeded the success of their most brilliant enterprises.
page 49,
- In Sydney at 9 am, by far the most prevailing wind is a westerly, particularly during the colder two-thirds of the year.