Enactment

How to spell enactment

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce enactment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does enactment mean?

1. nounThe process of passing a law, or a law that has been formally passed.
2. nounThe acting out or staged representation of an event or scene.

Enactment in a sentence

• The enactment of the new tax law took effect in April.

• The museum staged a careful enactment of the historic battle.

• Campaigners welcomed the swift enactment of the safety regulations.

• Her therapist suggested a role-play enactment of the difficult conversation.

Where does enactment come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from the verb 'enact', which combines the prefix 'en-' (meaning 'to make' or 'to put into', ultimately from Latin 'in-') with 'act', a word that traces back to the Latin 'actus' and the verb 'agere', meaning 'to do', 'to drive', or 'to set in motion'. To 'enact' therefore literally meant to put something into action or to make it real, a sense that narrowed over time to the formal business of turning a proposed law into a binding one. The noun 'enactment' was formed in English around the early 1800s by adding the suffix '-ment', which turns a verb into the name of its result or process. Because of its legal roots, the word most often describes either the passing of a statute or the statute itself, although it kept a parallel meaning of acting something out, since the same 'act' sits inside 'actor' and 'action'. The spelling trap is the silent flow of 'act' plus 'ment': remember it is simply 'enact' with '-ment' bolted on, with no letters dropped.

How the word is built

• en- (to make, put into)
• act (from Latin actus: a doing, a thing done)
• -ment (noun suffix: the result or act of)