actant

British  

/ ˈæktənt /

noun

1. linguistics (in valency grammar) a noun phrase functioning as the agent of the main verb of a sentence

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Example Sentences

“I was just up the street; see, I got a standing offer to be used as an NPC in games, or run errands and stuff for people in the neighborhood. This actant called me, said it would give me twenty Gwaiicoin to avatar for it.”

From Slate

Donna wasn’t available to avatar, but with the new funding the actant could afford more sophisticated augmented-reality characters.

From Slate

“The park’s actant is an advocate for a natural system, like a forest, an eagle clan, or a pond. I’m the reverse of that. You can think of me as all the damage caused by the mercury, given a voice. And my point is, people may shuffle the blame around all they like. But I’m still here.”

From Slate

“So we, what—we take out a loan to pay this actant?”

From Slate

“Listen, one thing I can tell you about this actant, Mercury. She’s a system of smart contracts, which means she’s transparent and incorruptible. She can’t lie, and she can’t cheat. Her code is right out in the open for anybody to examine. It’s an absolute fact that she’s going to honor her side of the agreement. When’s the last time you dealt with someone like that?”

From Slate