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DictionaryRoot: -alis
Latin

-alis

of, relating to

Forms

  • -alis
  • -aris — Latin variant especially used when the stem already contained l, avoiding a repeated l sound.
  • -al — English ending borrowed through French or directly from Latin.
  • -ar — English ending continuing Latin -aris.

Origin

An older Latin adjective-forming suffix; its more remote ancestry is uncertain.

Note

Expresses a relationship without specifying its kind: material, place, purpose, and other connections are possible.

4 / 291
adjective

actual

AK-choo-ul/ˈæktʃuəl/

Real or existing rather than supposed or imagined.

The actual apple casts a shadow beside its pencil sketch.

A real red apple casts a shadow beside its simple pencil sketch, tangible actual object emphasized.
Etymology
actuLatina doing, act, or completed movement
+alLatinof, relating to

Originally describing what pertains to action, actual broadened to mean real or existing. The useful contrast is between something merely potential or ideal and something that exists in fact.

In context

Enhanced Public Domain113:45
such generalizations always remain mere facts we feel that there might be be a world in which they were false though in the actual World they happen to be true
1910s Philosophy: Bertrand Russell - The Problems of Philosophy (Audiobook)

More examples

  • We compare the model with the actual building.
  • The witness describes what happened on the actual day.
  • Her actual duties differ from those in the job advertisement.

Forms

actuality noun — What exists or happens in reality.

Similar words

real
Broader; can contrast genuine things with artificial ones.
factual
Emphasizes support by facts rather than existence itself.