actor

English Online Dictionary. What means actor‎? What does actor mean?

English

Alternative forms

• acter (uncommon)
• actour (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from 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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈak.tə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæk.tɚ/
• Homophone: acter
• Rhymes: -æktə(ɹ)

Noun

actor (plural actors)

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.]
4. A person who acts a part in a theatrical play or (later) in film or television; a dramatic performer. [from 16th c.]
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

• 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

• (person who performs in a theatrical play or film): performer, player
• (one who acts): doer
• (one who takes part): participant
• (a plaintiff): complainant, plaintiff
• (entity performing a role in use case analysis): role

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “grammatical role”): undergoer

Hyponyms

• (person who performs in a theatrical play or film): actress
• enactor
• reenactor

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Scottish Gaelic: actair
• → Welsh: actor

Translations

Further reading

• “actor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “actor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “actor”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Cator, Croat, Croat., carto-, rocta, taroc

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āctor.

Noun

actor m (plural actores)

1. actor

Related terms

• actriz

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āctōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əkˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [akˈtoɾ]

Noun

actor m (plural actors, feminine actora)

1. (sociology) actor, agent (person who does an action)
2. maker, author (e.g., of a law)
3. (law) plaintiff
4. (law) legal entity who is party to a contract

Noun

actor m (plural actors, feminine actriu)

1. (theater, film) actor

Related terms

• actuar

Further reading

• “actor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āctor. Doublet of acteur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑk.tɔr/
• Hyphenation: ac‧tor
• Rhymes: -ɑktɔr

Noun

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

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

Related terms

Galician

Alternative forms

• ator (reintegrationist)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /akˈtoɾ/ [ɑkˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Hyphenation: ac‧tor

Noun

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

1. actor

Further reading

• “actor”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “actor”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈaːk.tor/, [ˈäːkt̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈak.tor/, [ˈäkt̪or]

Noun

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

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

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Related terms

Descendants

References

• “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.
• “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 and Roman 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

Noun

actor

1. Alternative form of actour

Occitan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āctor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /atˈtu/

Noun

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

1. actor

Portuguese

Noun

actor m (plural actores)

1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of ator. Still used in countries where the agreement hasn't come into effect; may occur as a sporadic misspelling.

Romanian

Alternative forms

• aftor — dated

Etymology

Borrowed from French acteur, Latin āctor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /akˈtor/

Noun

actor m (plural actori, feminine equivalent actriță or actoriță)

1. (acting) actor

   Synonyms: artist, interpret

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• teatralist

References

• actor in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Scots

Etymology

Borrowed from English actor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaktər/

Noun

actor (plural actors)

1. actor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āctor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɡˈtoɾ/ [aɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ac‧tor

Noun

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

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

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

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

1. (law) defendant

Further reading

• “actor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Anagrams

• corta
• tocar

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from English actor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaktɔr/
• Rhymes: -aktɔr

Noun

actor m (plural actorion)

1. (acting) actor

Coordinate terms

• (gender): actores (“actress, actor (female)”)

Related terms

• actio (“to act”)

Mutation

References

• 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