Etymograph

English

actually

Actually comes from Middle English actually ‘actually, truly’, and goes back to Anglo-Norman actuel.

  1. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400actuel1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500actual2‘actual’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500actually3‘actually’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1655actually3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English actual
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English actually
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English actually
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […]: “Neither actually […] nor passively.”.

Lineage

  1. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400actuelWiktionary, Middle English actual
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500actualWiktionary, Middle English actually‘actual’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500actuallyWiktionary, English actually‘actually’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1655actuallyWiktionary, English actually. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […]: “Neither actually […] nor passively.”

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Today it means

adv In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “actually”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English actual, Middle English actually. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Anglo-Norman actuel / actually