actor

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English[edit]

English Wikipedia has articles on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Middle English actour, from Anglo-Norman actor, Middle French actor, and their source, Latin āctor (“doer”), from agō (“to do”). Equivalent to act +‎ -or. Cognate with Ancient Greek ἄκτωρ (áktōr, “leader”), from ἄγω (ágō, “lead, carry, convey, bring”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

actor (plural actors, feminine actress, or (nonstandard) actoress)

  1. (obsolete, law) Someone who institutes a legal suit; a plaintiff or complainant. [13th–19th c.]
  2. (obsolete) Someone acting on behalf of someone else; a guardian. [14th–18th c.]
  3. Someone or something that takes part in some action; a doer, an agent. [from 15th c.]
    • 1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview 2001, p. 373:
      Never, my dear Bethel, did the most feverish dreams of fiction produce scenes more painful, or more terrific, than the real events to which I have been an actor, since the date of my last letter.
  4. A person who acts a part in a theatrical play or (later) in film or television; a dramatic performer. [from 16th c.]
    • 1991, Ani DiFranco (lyrics and music), “Anticipate”, in Not So Soft:
      Seems like everyone's an actor / Or they're an actor's best friend / I wonder what was wrong to begin with / That they should all have to pretend
    • 2017 April 2, “Marijuana”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 7, HBO:
      Exactly. Marijuana is something we just all gradually decided is okay, like Mark Wahlberg as a serious actor. “You know what? Sure, I’ve decided I’m fine with that.”
  5. (obsolete, Ancient Rome) An advocate or proctor in civil courts or causes. [16th–19th c.]
  6. (grammar) The subject performing the action of a verb. [from 18th c.]
  7. (software engineering) The entity that performs a role (in use case analysis).

Usage notes[edit]

  • In the sense of a person who acts in a play or film, the traditional sense of the word only applied to male actors, the term actress being used for the female counterpart.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • → Scottish Gaelic: actair
  • → Welsh: actor

Translations[edit]

person who performs in a theatrical play or film — See also translations at actress
plaintiff — see plaintiff
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Asturian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin āctor.

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actores)

  1. An actor.

Related terms[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin āctor.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actors, feminine actriu)

  1. An actor.

Related terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin āctor.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actores or actoren, diminutive actortje n)

  1. An actor; an agent, a player, who has a part in some field of economical, social or other action, i.e. an active human factor.

Related terms[edit]

Galician[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actores, feminine actriz, feminine plural actrices)

  1. actor
    A acción revela o actor.
    The act reveals the actor

Further reading[edit]

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Agent noun formed from āctus +‎ -tor, perfect passive participle of agō (“do, act, make”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

āctor m (genitive āctōris, feminine āctrīx); third declension

  1. a doer, an agent
  2. An actor (person who performs in a theatrical play or movie).
  3. A (law) prosecutor, plaintiff, advocate, orator.

Declension[edit]

Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative āctor āctōrēs
Genitive āctōris āctōrum
Dative āctōrī āctōribus
Accusative āctōrem āctōrēs
Ablative āctōre āctōribus
Vocative āctor āctōrēs

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • actor in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • actor in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • actor in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • actor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
  • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • the actor who plays the leading part: actor primarum (secundarum, tertiarum) partium
  • actor in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎[2]
  • actor in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • actor in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
  • actor in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor

  1. Alternative form of actour

Occitan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin āctor.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (Béarn)(file)

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actors, feminine actritz, feminine plural actrises)

  1. An actor.

Portuguese[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actores)

  1. Superseded spelling of ator. (Superseded in Brazil by the 1943 spelling reform and by the Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 elsewhere. Still used in countries where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and as an alternative spelling in Portugal.)

Romanian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French acteur, Latin āctor.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actori, feminine equivalent actriță)

  1. (acting) An actor.

Declension[edit]

Declension of actor
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) actor actorul (niște) actori actorii
genitive/dative (unui) actor actorului (unor) actori actorilor
vocative actorule actorilor

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Scots[edit]

Scots Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sco

Etymology[edit]

From English actor.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor (plural actors)

  1. An actor.

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin actor.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /aɡˈtoɾ/, [aɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
  • Audio (Colombia)(file)
  • Hyphenation: act‧or
  • Rhymes: -oɾ

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actores, feminine actriz or actora, feminine plural actrices or actoras)

  1. An actor (person who performs in a theatrical play or movie)

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actores, feminine actora, feminine plural actoras)

  1. (law) A defendant.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Welsh[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English actor.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

actor m (plural actorion)

  1. An actor.

Coordinate terms[edit]

Mutation[edit]

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
actor unchanged unchanged hactor
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References[edit]

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “actor”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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