enact
/ɪˈnækt/verb
enact is spelled E-N-A-C-T: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, enact means “To make (a bill) into law” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in enact?
| Letters | 5: E-N-A-C-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is enact?
Enact appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce enact?
- /ɪˈnækt/
Enact has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-enact.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of enact
- enacts present, singular, he/she/it
- enacting participle, present
- enacted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does enact mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make (a bill) into law.
- 2
To act the part of; to play.
- 3
To do; to effect.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Enact in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | promulguer , jouer |
| Portuguese | promulgar, passar , interpretar , realizar |
| Spanish | enactuar , interpretar |
| German | spielen , ausführen |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does enact come from?
From Middle English enacten, from en-, from Old French en- (“to cause to be”), from Latin in- (“in”) and Old French acte (“perform, do”), from Latin actum, past participle of ago (“set in motion”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).