Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

            That best portion of a good man's life, His little,
            nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and of love.
                                                  --Wordsworth.
      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.

   2. A state of reality or real existence as opposed to a
      possibility or possible existence. [Obs.]

            The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in
            possibility, what they afterward grow to be.
                                                  --Hooker.

   3. Process of doing; action. In act, in the very doing; on
      the point of (doing). ``In act to shoot.'' --Dryden.

            This woman was taken . . . in the very act. --John
                                                  viii. 4.

   {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.

   Syn: See {Action}.

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.

            He maketh a god, and worshipeth it.   --Is. xliv.
                                                  15.

            The race of Israel . . . bowing lowly down To
            bestial gods.                         --Milton.

   2. The Supreme Being; the eternal and infinite Spirit, the
      Creator, and the Sovereign of the universe; Jehovah.

            God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must
            worship him in spirit and in truth.   --John iv. 24.

   3. A person or thing deified and honored as the chief good;
      an object of supreme regard.

            Whose god is their belly.             --Phil. iii.
                                                  19.

   4. Figuratively applied to one who wields great or despotic
      power. [R.] --Shak.

   {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.

Source : WordNet®

act of God
     n : 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: {force majeure},
          {vis major}, {inevitable accident}, {unavoidable
         casualty}]