action

noun

The effort of performing or doing something.

Something done, often so as to accomplish a purpose.

A way of motion or functioning.

Fast-paced activity.

The way in which a mechanical device acts when used; especially a firearm.

(firearms) The way in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism.

(music) The mechanism, that is the set of moving mechanical parts, of a keyboard instrument, like a piano, which transfers the motion of the key to the sound-making device.

(music, lutherie) The distance separating the strings and the fingerboard on a string instrument.

(slang, typically with a quantifier) Sexual intercourse.

(military) Combat.

(law) A charge or other process in a law court (also called lawsuit and actio).

(mathematics) A way in which each element of some algebraic structure transforms some other structure or set, in a way which respects the structure of the first. Formally, this may be seen as a morphism from the first structure into some structure of endomorphisms of the second; for example, a group action of a group G on a set S can be seen as a group homomorphism from G into the set of bijections on S (which form a group under function composition), while a module M over a ring R can be defined as an abelian group together with a ring homomorphism from R into the ring of group endomorphisms of M (which is also called the action of R on M).

(physics) The product of energy and time, especially the product of the Lagrangian and time.

(literature) The event or connected series of events, either real or imaginary, forming the subject of a play, poem, or other composition; the unfolding of the drama of events.

(art, painting and sculpture) The attitude or position of the several parts of the body as expressive of the sentiment or passion depicted.

(bowling) spin put on the bowling ball.

(Christianity) A religious performance or solemn function, i.e. action sermon, a sacramental sermon in the Scots Presbyterian Church.

(sciences) A process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings).

(Misesian praxeology, Austrian economics) Purposeful behavior.

A demonstration by activists.

(obsolete) A share in the capital stock of a joint-stock company, or in the public funds.

verb

(transitive, management) To act on a request etc, in order to put it into effect.

(transitive, chiefly archaic) To initiate a legal action against someone.

adjective

(Manglish) arrogant

Roots

agoact- · Latin · do, drive

Synonyms for action

activenessn activityn actn motionsn proceedingn movementn doingsn countermoven

Synonyms & related words for action

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of action — including activeness, activity, act, motions, proceeding, movement. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to action

Explore words related to action — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include actionless, nonjoinder, assumpsit, trover, enacting, demandant, ideomotor, retroaction. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for action

Common synonyms for action include activeness, activity, act, motions, proceeding, movement, doings, countermove — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does action come from?

The word action breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root act-, from Latin ago (“do, drive”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.