The difference between Actual and Nominal

When used as nouns, actual means something actually received, whereas nominal means a noun or word group that functions as part of a noun phrase.

When used as adjectives, actual means relating to a person's acts or deeds, whereas nominal means of, resembling, relating to, or consisting of a name or names.

check bellow for the other definitions of Actual and Nominal

  1. Actual as an adjective (chiefly, theology):

    Relating to a person's acts or deeds; active, practical.

  2. Actual as an adjective:

    Existing in reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact.

    Examples:

    "the actual cost of goods; the actual case under discussion"

    "The actual government expenses dramatically exceed the budget."

  3. Actual as an adjective (now, rare):

    In action at the time being; now existing; current.

  4. Actual as an adjective:

    Used as intensifier to emphasise a following noun; exact, very.

  1. Actual as a noun (finance):

    An actual, real one; notably: Something actually received; real receipts, as distinct from estimated ones. A radio callsign modifier that specifies the commanding officer of the unit or asset denoted by the remainder of the callsign and not the officer's assistant or other designee.

    Examples:

    "Bravo Six Actual, this is Charlie One. Come in, over.'' (The radio operator is requesting to speak to the commander of the unit under the call sign "Bravo Six.")"

  1. Nominal as an adjective:

    Of, resembling, relating to, or consisting of a name or names.

  2. Nominal as an adjective:

    Assigned to or bearing a person's name.

  3. Nominal as an adjective:

    Existing in name only.

    Examples:

    "a nominal difference"

  4. Nominal as an adjective (philosophy):

    Of or relating to nominalism.

  5. Nominal as an adjective:

    Insignificantly small; trifling.

    Examples:

    "He gave me only a nominal sum for my services."

  6. Nominal as an adjective:

    Of or relating to the presumed or approximate value, rather than the actual value.

    Examples:

    "The nominal voltage is 1.5 V, but the actual figure is usually higher."

  7. Nominal as an adjective (finance):

    Of, relating to, or being the amount or face value of a sum of money or a stock certificate, for example, and not the purchasing power or market value.

  8. Nominal as an adjective (finance):

    Of, relating to, or being the rate of interest or return without adjustment for compounding or inflation.

  9. Nominal as an adjective (grammar):

    Of or relating to a noun or word group that functions as a noun.

    Examples:

    "This sentence contains a nominal phrase."

  10. Nominal as an adjective (engineering):

    According to plan or design; normal.

    Examples:

    "We'll just do a nominal flight check."

    "Apart from the slightly high temperature, all the readings from the spacecraft are nominal."

  11. Nominal as an adjective (economics):

    Without adjustment to remove the effects of inflation; contrasted with real.

    Examples:

    "My employer does not understand how low my nominal wage is."

    "The nominal GNP of this country is pretty low."

  12. Nominal as an adjective (statistics, of a variable):

    Having values whose order is insignificant.

  1. Nominal as a noun (grammar):

    A noun or word group that functions as part of a noun phrase.

    Examples:

    "This sentence contains two nominals."

  2. Nominal as a noun (grammar):

    A part of speech that shares features with nouns and adjectives.

  3. Nominal as a noun:

    A number (usually natural) used like a name; a numeric code or identifier (see also wikipedia).

    Examples:

    "Numeric codes of characters used in programming are nominals."

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