acton

¹

or ack·ton, ake·ton

[ ak-tuhn ]

noun

, Armor.

1. a quilted garment worn under mail in the 13th and 14th centuries; gambeson.

Acton

²

[ ak-tuhn ]

noun

1. Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron, 1834–1902, English historian.
2. a former municipal borough in SE England, now part of the London borough of Ealing: center of Puritanism at the time of Cromwell.
3. a city in NE Massachusetts.

acton

¹

/ ˈæktən /

noun

1. a jacket or jerkin, originally of quilted cotton, worn under a coat of mail
2. a leather jacket padded with mail

Acton

²

/ ˈæktən /

noun

1. ActonJohn Emerich Edward Dalberg, 1st Baron Acton18341902MEnglishHISTORY: historian John Emerich Edward Dalberg, 1st Baron. 1834–1902, English historian: a proponent of Christian liberal ethics and adviser of Gladstone
2. ActonSir John Francis Edward17361811MEnglishMILITARY: naval commanderPOLITICS: statesman his grandfather, Sir John Francis Edward. 1736–1811, European naval commander and statesman: admiral of Tuscany (1774–79) and Naples (1779 onwards) and chief minister of Naples (1779–1806)

Acton

³

/ ˈæktən /

noun

1. a district of the London borough of Ealing

Word History and Origins

Origin of acton¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French aketoun, Old French a ( u ) queton < Old Spanish algodon < Spanish Arabic < Arabic al-quṭun the cotton

Word History and Origins

Origin of acton¹

C14: from Old French auqueton, probably ultimately from Arabic alqutun the cotton

Example Sentences

So Acton poured $50 million of his Facebook fortune into setting up the Signal Foundation, a non-profit that could support the development of Signal as a direct rival to WhatsApp.

From Time

Soon after quitting, Acton teamed up with Marlinspike once again.

From Time

Even so, while Acton was still at the company in 2016, WhatsApp introduced new terms of service that forced users, if they wanted to keep using the app, to agree that their WhatsApp data could be accessed by Facebook.

From Time

Acton was growing alarmed at what he saw as Facebook’s plans to add advertisements and track even more user data.

From Time

I try to use it to conduct my interview with Acton, but the call fails to connect.

From Time

When Acton died in 1953, no will was found and his estate was inherited by Harold.

From The Daily Beast

New York University was not thunderstruck by the news that Sir Harold Acton had left the school his estate when he died in 1994.

From The Daily Beast

Acton had no heirs and initially offered to leave his estate to Oxford, but the offer was turned down.

From The Daily Beast

Arthur Acton decided to go into business with a neighbor in Florence, Bernard Berenson.

From The Daily Beast

She and her family have been in litigation with NYU over the Acton estate since his death.

From The Daily Beast

From their father, Currer, Ellis, and Acton derived a strong will.

From Project Gutenberg

Acton, ak′tun, n. a stuffed leather jacket which used to be worn under a coat of mail.

From Project Gutenberg

The greatest blank in the shining page was the memory of Acton Hague, of which he inveterately tried to rid himself.

From Project Gutenberg

He was further conscious that he showed his companion a white face when he turned round on her gasping: “Acton Hague!”

From Project Gutenberg

His tide had ebbed, not flowed; if he had “forgiven” Acton Hague, that forgiveness was a motive with a broken spring.

From Project Gutenberg