actualactual

Actual comes from Late Latin actuālis ‘active, practical’, from actus ‘act, action’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-¹‘to drive’reconstructed
2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti²‘to be driving’reconstructed
3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō³‘to do, act; to drive’
4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEactus²‘act, action’
5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEactuālis²‘active, practical’
6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400actuel²
7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500actual²
8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606actual²

1. ¹ Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti
2. ² Wiktionary, English actual
3. ³ Wiktionary, Latin actus
4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “In this slumbry agitation, besides her walking, and other…”.