enactment

Etymology

It is formed from English enact + -ment,^[2][3][4][5] and replaced the earlier noun enaction, recorded from the 1620s in Etymonline and 1631 in the OED.^[3][4][2] Enact is formed from en- and act,^[2][3] which go back to Latin actus, the past participle of agō (“to set in motion, drive; to do”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The passing of a bill into law: 1766 in Etymonline.^[3] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1792,^[6] Dictionary.com to 1810–20, and the OED, in an entry not revised since 1891, to 1817.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Soon after the act of enacting, the word was used for what is enacted, a law or statute: by 1783 in Etymonline,^[3] 1821 in the OED.^[2] From 1839 the plural also meant the particular provisions of a law,^[2][4] and in law an enactment clause or the like, from 1825, states the authority by which an act is passed.^[2] The OED also notes the rare sense of acting a part in a play, recorded only in modern dictionaries.^[2]

Timeline

• 1766 – the passing of a bill into law.^[3] The OED dates this sense to 1817.^[2]
• 1783 – a law or statute.^[3] The OED dates this sense to 1821.^[2]
• 1825 – attributive, in law, of the clause stating the authority for an act.^[2]
• 1839 – plural, the particular provisions of a law.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of enacting, especially of passing a bill into law: the enactment of a new road-safety bill.^[6][2][4]
2. Something that has been enacted, such as a law or statute.^[6][2][4]
3. (in the plural) The particular provisions of a law.^[2][4]
4. (rare) The acting of a part or character in a play.^[2]

Word family

• nonenactment

Related words

• reenactment
• enact
• act
• enaction

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster