From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
God \God\ (g[o^]d), n. [AS. god; akin to OS. & D. god, OHG. got,
G. gott, Icel. gu[eth], go[eth], Sw. & Dan. gud, Goth. gup,
prob. orig. a p. p. from a root appearing in Skr. h[=u], p.
p. h[=u]ta, to call upon, invoke, implore. [root]30. Cf.
{Goodbye}, {Gospel}, {Gossip}.]
1. A being conceived of as possessing supernatural power, and
to be propitiated by sacrifice, worship, etc.; a divinity;
a deity; an object of worship; an idol.
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He maketh a god, and worshipeth it. --Is. xliv.
15.
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The race of Israel . . . bowing lowly down
To bestial gods. --Milton.
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2. The Supreme Being; the eternal and infinite Spirit, the
Creator, and the Sovereign of the universe; Jehovah.
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God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. --John iv. 24.
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3. A person or thing deified and honored as the chief good;
an object of supreme regard.
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Whose god is their belly. --Phil. iii.
19.
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4. Figuratively applied to one who wields great or despotic
power. [R.] --Shak.
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{Act of God}. (Law) See under {Act}.
{Gallery gods}, the occupants of the highest and cheapest
gallery of a theater. [Colloq.]
{God's acre}, {God's field}, a burial place; a churchyard.
See under {Acre}.
{God's house}.
(a) An almshouse. [Obs.]
(b) A church.
{God's penny}, earnest penny. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
{God's Sunday}, Easter.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Act \Act\ ([a^]kt), n. [L. actus, fr. agere to drive, do: cf. F.
acte. See {Agent}.]
1. That which is done or doing; the exercise of power, or the
effect, of which power exerted is the cause; a
performance; a deed.
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That best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love. --Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster] Hence, in specific uses:
(a) The result of public deliberation; the decision or
determination of a legislative body, council, court of
justice, etc.; a decree, edit, law, judgment, resolve,
award; as, an act of Parliament, or of Congress.
(b) A formal solemn writing, expressing that something has
been done. --Abbott.
(c) A performance of part of a play; one of the principal
divisions of a play or dramatic work in which a
certain definite part of the action is completed.
(d) A thesis maintained in public, in some English
universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show
the proficiency of a student.
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2. A state of reality or real existence as opposed to a
possibility or possible existence. [Obs.]
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The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in
possibility, what they afterward grow to be.
--Hooker.
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3. Process of doing; action. In act, in the very doing; on
the point of (doing). "In act to shoot." --Dryden.
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This woman was taken . . . in the very act. --John
viii. 4.
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{Act of attainder}. (Law) See {Attainder}.
{Act of bankruptcy} (Law), an act of a debtor which renders
him liable to be adjudged a bankrupt.
{Act of faith}. (Ch. Hist.) See {Auto-da-F['e]}.
{Act of God} (Law), an inevitable accident; such
extraordinary interruption of the usual course of events
as is not to be looked for in advance, and against which
ordinary prudence could not guard.
{Act of grace}, an expression often used to designate an act
declaring pardon or amnesty to numerous offenders, as at
the beginning of a new reign.
{Act of indemnity}, a statute passed for the protection of
those who have committed some illegal act subjecting them
to penalties. --Abbott.
{Act in pais}, a thing done out of court (anciently, in the
country), and not a matter of record.
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Syn: See {Action}.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
act of God
n 1: a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the
expected course of events; "he discovered that his house
was not insured against acts of God" [syn: {act of God},
{force majeure}, {vis major}, {inevitable accident},
{unavoidable casualty}]
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