noun

actuality

ak-choo-AL-uh-tee/ˌæktʃuˈæləti/

What actually exists or happens.

The completed bridge turns the design on paper into an actuality.

A finished real footbridge stands beside the old paper blueprint, existing reality.

Etymology

actuLatina doing

+alLatinpertaining to

+ityLatinstate or quality

Built on “doing,” actuality reflects a contrast between something in operation and something merely possible. Its Latin ancestor translated Greek energeia, used by Aristotle for reality as opposed to potential.

In context

MicroBiome2:20

they appear transparent and empty in actuality these organelles tend to be filled with fluid and other materials

Paramecium Characteristic & Structure | Under The Microscope

More examples

In actuality, the two families have never met.
The reporter includes actuality recorded at the protest.
His idealized account ignores the actualities of rural life.

Forms

actuality · actualities

Similar words

reality: The more usual general term for what exists.
footage: Specifies recorded moving images rather than recorded sound too.