author

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

English

Alternative forms

• aucthor, aucthour, auctor, auctour, auctoure, authour, authoure, autor, autour, autoure (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English auctour, from Anglo-Norman autour, from Old French autor, from Latin auctor, from augeō (“to increase, originate”). The h, also found in Middle French autheur, is unetymological as there is no h in the original Latin spelling. The OED attributes the h to contamination by authentic. Doublet of auteur.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.θə(ɹ)/
• (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): [ˈoː.θə(ɹ)]
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [ˈɔ(ː)θ(ə)ɹ]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.θɚ/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.θɚ/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈɒː.təɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɔːθə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: au‧thor

Noun

author (plural authors)

1. The originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition; or, one of the creators of a collaborative work.
2. (copyright law) The initial owner of the copyright to a work, especially a work made for hire or a work of corporate authorship.

3. Someone who writes books for a living.
4. (obsolete, criminal law) Principal; the primary participant in a crime.
5. (archaic) One's authority for something: an informant.

Synonyms

• (creator of a work): bookwright, creator, artist, subcreator, fabulator, writer

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

author (third-person singular simple present authors, present participle authoring, simple past and past participle authored)

1. (chiefly US, sometimes proscribed) To create a work as its author.

Derived terms

• authorable

Translations

Anagrams

• Hotaru

Latin

Etymology

Late variant of auctor and autor under influence of descendants such as English author.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯.tʰor/, [ˈäu̯t̪ʰɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯.tor/, [ˈäːu̯t̪or]

Noun

author m (genitive authōris); third declension

1. (New Latin, proscribed) Alternative form of auctor: source, creator, vendor, author, artist.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

References

• “author”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  “auctor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• auctor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 184f..

Middle English

Noun

author

1. Alternative form of auctour