Enacts

Enacts is the third-person singular present tense of the verb enact. It has two main senses. In law and government, to enact means to make a bill into law or to give legal effect to a policy. In theatre and narrative, to enact means to perform or portray a scene, action, or story. It is transitive: one enacts a law, an ordinance, a policy, or a play.

Etymology: The word derives from Middle English enacten, from Old French enacter, from Latin actus meaning a thing done.

In legal use, enacting a law follows drafting and approval by legislative bodies and the executive, resulting in an enacted statute. Legal texts often say the act enacts section 12, or that the statute enacts certain provisions. An enacting clause is a standard introductory sentence stating the authority by which the law is enacted.

In performing arts, to enact a character or event is to present it through action, sometimes dramatizing historical or fictional material.

Related forms include enactment (the process or result), enacting (present participle), and enacted (past tense). The term is distinct from implement, apply, or execute, though closely related as a way to put rules or narratives into effect.