Nonactualized

Nonactualized is an adjective used to describe a state, property, event, or outcome that exists as a possibility but has not been realized or instantiated in the actual world. It denotes potentiality rather than current actuality and does not by itself imply impossibility; something nonactualized may still become actual under the right conditions.

In philosophy, nonactualized potentiality is central to discussions of act and potency, most famously in Aristotle. An entity can harbor nonactualized potentialities that may be realized through development, choice, or causal processes. In modal logic and metaphysics, nonactualized propositions or states refer to what does not hold in the actual world but could hold in other possible worlds or under different circumstances.

Examples illustrate the concept. A plan to write a novel is nonactualized until the writing occurs; a seed contains nonactualized potential to become a tree until it germinates under appropriate conditions; a hypothesis is nonactualized until it is tested and supported or refuted. In linguistic and cognitive contexts, discussions of nonactualized events often involve counterfactuals or hypothetical scenarios.

Nonactualized contrasts with unrealized, hypothetical, or potential in related senses, and it emphasizes status relative to the actual world rather than a claim about truth or falsity. Related concepts include potentiality, actuality, possible worlds, depending on whether one is focusing on what could be, what is, or what might have been.