Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Actuary |
ActuaryNoun1. Someone versed in the collection and interpretation of numerical data (especially someone who uses statistics to calculate insurance premiums). Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "actuary" was first used: 1553. (references) |
Etymology: Actuary \Ac"tu*a*ry\, noun; plural Actuaries. [Latin expression actuarius copyist, clerk, from actus, past participle of agere to do, act.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Insurance | A specialist in the application of mathematics to the subject of insurance, especially to that of life assurance. Source: European Union. (references) |
Occupations | Applies knowledge of mathematics, probability, statistics, principles of finance and business to problems in life, health, social, and casualty insurance, annuities, and pensions: Determines mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates; constructs probability tables regarding fire, natural disasters, and unemployment, based on analysis of statistical data and other pertinent information. Designs or reviews insurance and pension plans and calculates premiums. Ascertains premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits. Determines equitable basis for distributing surplus earnings under participating insurance and annuity contracts in mutual companies. May specialize in one type of insurance and be designated Actuary, Casualty (profess. & kin.); Actuary, Life (profess. & kin.). (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Usually an actuary's job will involve quantifying how much a sum of money will be worth at different points in the future. Since this is not a deterministic process, stochastic models are used to determine a distribution and the parameters of the distribution.
Recently the scope of the actuarial field has widened to include investment advice, and even asset management.
Actuaries will typically be employed in insurance companies, consulting firms, or government departments. Many belong to one or more professional bodies, which include:
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Actuary."
Synonym: ActuarySynonym: statistician (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Accounts | Accountant, auditor, actuary, bookkeeper, bean counter; financier; accounting party; chartered accountant, certified accountant; accounting firm, auditing firm. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Actuary |
| English words defined with "actuary": actuarial, Actuaries. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "actuary": INSURANCE. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Periodicals |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | The assets to be handed over shall be determined by an actuary appointed by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | INSURANCE, n. An ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comfortable conviction that he is beating the man who keeps the table. INSURANCE AGENT: My dear sir, that is a fine house -- pray let me insure it. HOUSE OWNER: With pleasure. Please make the annual premium so low that by the time when, according to the tables of your actuary, it will probably be destroyed by fire I will have paid you considerably less than the face of the policy. INSURANCE AGENT: O dear, no -- we could not afford to do that. We must fix the premium so that you will have paid more. HOUSE OWNER: How, then, can I afford that? INSURANCE AGENT: Why, your house may burn down at any time. There was Smith's house, for example, which -- HOUSE OWNER: Spare me -- there were Brown's house, on the contrary, and Jones's house, and Robinson's house, which -- INSURANCE AGENT: Spare me! HOUSE OWNER: Let us understand each other. You want me to pay you money on the supposition that something will occur previously to the time set by yourself for its occurrence. In other words, you expect me to bet that my house will not last so long as you say that it will probably last. INSURANCE AGENT: But if your house burns without insurance it will be a total loss. HOUSE OWNER: Beg your pardon -- by your own actuary's tables I shall probably have saved, when it burns, all the premiums I would otherwise have paid to you -- amounting to more than the face of the policy they would have bought. But suppose it to burn, uninsured, before the time upon which your figures are based. If I could not afford that, how could you if it were insured? INSURANCE AGENT: O, we should make ourselves whole from our luckier ventures with other clients. Virtually, they pay your loss. HOUSE OWNER: And virtually, then, don't I help to pay their losses? Are not their houses as likely as mine to burn before they have paid you as much as you must pay them? The case stands this way: you expect to take more money from your clients than you pay to them, do you not? INSURANCE AGENT: Certainly; if we did not -- HOUSE OWNER: I would not trust you with my money. Very well then. If it is certain, with reference to the whole body of your clients, that they lose money on you it is probable, with reference to any one of them, that he will. It is these individual probabilities that make the aggregate certainty. INSURANCE AGENT: I will not deny it -- but look at the figures in this pamph -- HOUSE OWNER: Heaven forbid! INSURANCE AGENT: You spoke of saving the premiums which you would otherwise pay to me. Will you not be more likely to squander them? We offer you an incentive to thrift. HOUSE OWNER: The willingness of A to take care of B's money is not peculiar to insurance, but as a charitable institution you command esteem. Deign to accept its expression from a Deserving Object. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Actuary" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Actuary" is used about 116 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 116 | 29,969 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "actuary": actuary-dominated. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
actuary | 360 |
actuary job | 36 |
actuary salary | 22 |
actuary exam | 19 |
actuary table | 19 |
actuary science | 9 |
society of actuary | 9 |
become an actuary | 7 |
actuary career | 6 |
actuary test | 5 |
actuary joke | 5 |
be an actuary | 5 |
actuary resume | 4 |
cas actuary | 4 |
actuary school | 4 |
investment actuary | 4 |
actuary rebel site web | 3 |
enrolled actuary | 3 |
actuary internship | 3 |
pension actuary | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "actuary"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaan | aktuaris. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | sekretar (amanuensis, clerk, draftsman, draughtsman, receptionist, scribe, secretary), ekspert i sigurimeve. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | الخبير بشؤون التأمين. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | статистик (statist, statistician), секретар (amanuensis, clerk, officer, recorder, registrar, scribe, secretary, writer), регистратор (monitor, recorder, registrant, registrar). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 保险统计 (Actuarial, Actuaries). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | pojistný matematik. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | aktuar. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | actuaris, archiefmedewerker. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | asekura statistikisto, aktuario, aktisto. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | منشی (Characteristic, Clerk, Scribe, Secretary), ماموراحصاءیه , امارگیر, دبیر (Secretary, Teacher). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | aktuaari (registrar). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | actuaire. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Aktuar (court clerk, court registrar, court reporter, secretary of the court). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ασφαλιστήσ (insurer, securer, security policeman, underwriter), αναλογιστήσ, αναλογιστής. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | biztosítási statisztikus. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Icelandic | tryggingafræðingur. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | attuario (court clerk, court registrar, court reporter, secretary of the court). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | ard-earrooagh. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | actuaryay actuário. (various references) actuar, statistician al unei societãţi de asigurãri. (various references) актуарий. (various references) statističar osiguravajućeg zavoda. (various references) actuario. (various references) aktuarie (registrar). (various references) aktüer, sigorta uzmanı. (various references) статистик страхового товариства, секретар (amanuensis, clerk, receptionist, scorekeeper, secretary), службовець суду, ре"стратор (receptionist, recorder, register), актуарій. (various references) viên quản lý văn khế, bệnh tật (invalid, morbid). (various references) ystadegydd (statistician), cyfrifydd (accountant, reckoner). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | actuarius. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Actuary" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: actorly, actruary, actua, actuarcy, actury, Arcturan, artuary, Asukari, ataraxy, baktiari, Kakutaro, Macruari, sactuary. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "actuary" (pronounced a"kkhuwe'rē) |
| 5 | -u w e' r ē | Cassowary. |
| 3 | -e' r ē | adversary, ancillary, apothecary, arbitrary, aviary, beneficiary, bicentenary, Blackberry, blueberry, budgetary, capillary, cardiopulmonary, cautionary, cemetery, centenary, cometary, commentary, commissary, concessionary, confectionary, confectionery, Constabulary, contemporary, corollary, coronary, counterrevolutionary, cranberry, culinary, customary, deflationary, depositary, Dewberry, dictionary, dietary, dignitary, disciplinary, discretionary, disinflationary, diversionary, Dogberry, dromedary, dysentery, emissary, epistolary, estuary, evolutionary, exclusionary, expansionary, expeditionary, extraordinary, fiduciary, formulary, fragmentary, functionary, funerary, gooseberry, hackberry, hereditary, honorary, Huckleberry, illusionary, imaginary, inflationary, interdisciplinary, interplanetary, involuntary, itinerary, judiciary, lapidary, legendary, library, literary, luminary, mercenary, military, missionary, momentary, monastery, monetary, mortuary, mulberry, necessary, noninflationary, nonmilitary, obituary, ordinary, paramilitary, pecuniary, pituitary, planetary, preliminary, primary, probationary, proprietary, pulmonary, quaternary, raspberry, reactionary, recessionary, revolutionary, Rosemary, salutary, sanctuary, sanitary, savagery, secondary, secretary, sedentary, semilegendary, seminary, solitary, stationary, stationery, statuary, strawberry, subsidiary, temporary, Tilbury, topiary, tributary, undersecretary, unitary, unnecessary, unsanitary, urinary, veterinary, visionary, vocabulary. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-c-r-t-u-y" | |
-2 letters: carat, yurta. | |
-3 letters: acta, arty, aura, cart, curt, racy, raya, tray, yuca, yurt. | |
-4 letters: act, arc, art, car, cat, cay, cry, cur, cut, rat, ray, rut, rya, tar, tau, try, uta, yar. | |
-5 letters: aa, ar, at, ay, ta, ut, ya. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-c-r-t-u-y" | |
+1 letter: autarchy. | |
+2 letters: arcuately, autocracy, cartulary, sanctuary. | |
+3 letters: accurately, accusatory, articulacy, capitulary, cautionary, chartulary. | |
+4 letters: actuarially, ejaculatory, manufactory, oracularity, paramountcy, vascularity. | |
+5 letters: adjudicatory, agranulocyte, annunciatory, articulately, articulatory, auscultatory, avascularity, avuncularity, connaturally, constabulary, inaccurately, inarticulacy, particularly, quasicrystal, uncharitably. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)41 63 74 75 61 72 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).- -.-. - ..- .- .-. -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000001 01100011 01110100 01110101 01100001 01110010 01111001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)A c t u a r y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0041 0063 0074 0075 0061 0072 0079 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)35698687678491 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Historic 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Orthography 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
