author

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.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.θə/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.θɚ/
(cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.θɚ/
(obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈɒː.təɹ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɔːθə(ɹ)
Hyphenation: au‧thor

Noun

author (plural authors)

The originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition.
The copyright of any original writing belongs initially and properly to its author.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
  Eternal King; thee, Author of all being.
- 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
  During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]
- 1755, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language Preface
  The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.
Have you read any Corinthian authors?
- 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
  During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]
Someone who writes books for a living.
(obsolete, criminal law) Principal.
- 1894, Franco-Siamese Mixed Court, The Case of Kieng Chek (Kham Muon) before the Franco-Siamese Mixed Court‎, Bangkok: n.p., page 4:
  Accomplices of a crime or an offence shall incur the same punishment as the authors of such a crime or offence, except when the law will have disposed otherwise.
(obsolete) One's authority for something: an informant.
- 1699, Seven new Colloquies translated out of Erasmus
  Let me inform you en passant, Ladies, that those Villains the Heathens, as my Authors tell me, (and I thought it wou'd^[sic] not be amiss to communicate such a nice Observation to this House) used to call our Saviour Chrestus, and not Christus, by way of Contempt and Derision […]

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

authoress, authress
author mill
author of life
co-author
corresponding author
death of the author

Related terms

auteur
authority
authorization or authorisation
authorship

Translations

originator or creator of a work

Albanian: autor (sq) m, autore (sq) f
Arabic: مُؤَلِّف‎ m (muʾallif), مُصَنِّف‎ m (muṣannif)
Aragonese: autor m, autora f
Armenian: հեղինակ (hy) (hełinak)
Asturian: autor m
Azerbaijani: müəllif (az), avtor
Basque: egile (eu)
Belarusian: а́ўтар m (áŭtar), а́ўтарка f (áŭtarka)
Bengali: লেখক (bn) (lekhôkô), স্রষ্টা (bn) (srôṣṭa)
Breton: aozer
Bulgarian: а́втор (bg) m (ávtor), а́вторка f (ávtorka), творе́ц (bg) m (tvoréc)
Burmese: စာရေးဆရာ (my) (care:hca.ra)
Catalan: autor (ca) m, autora (ca) f
Chechen: яздархо (jazdarxo)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 作家 (zh) (zuòjiā), 作者 (zh) (zuòzhě)
Chukchi: тэйкыткуԓьын (tėjkytkuḷʹyn)
Czech: autor (cs) m, autorka (cs) f
Danish: forfatter (da) c
Dutch: auteur (nl) m, schrijver (nl) m (especially literary), schrijfster (nl) f (especially literary)
Esperanto: verkinto, aŭtoro
Estonian: autor (et)
Faroese: rithøvundur m, høvundur m
Finnish: tekijä (fi), kirjoittaja (fi)
French: auteur (fr) m, auteure (fr) f, autrice (fr) f
Galician: autor m
Georgian: ავტორი (avṭori)
German: Autor (de) m, Autorin (de) f, Verfasser (de) m, Verfasserin (de) f, Schriftsteller (de) m, Schriftstellerin (de) f
Greek: δημιουργός (el) c (dimiourgós)
Ancient: ἀρχηγέτης m (arkhēgétēs)
Gujarati: લેખક m (lekhak)
Haitian Creole: otè
Hebrew: סוֹפֵר‎ (he) m (sofér), מְחַבֵּר‎ (he) m (m'khabér), יוֹצֵר‎ (he) m (yotsér)
Hindi: लेखक (hi) m (lekhak), लेखिका (hi) f (lekhikā), प्रणेता (hi) m (praṇetā)
Hungarian: szerző (hu), kezdeményező (hu), alkotó (hu), létrehozó, kiötlő, kiagyaló
Icelandic: höfundur (is) m, rithöfundur (is) m
Indonesian: pengarang (id)
Irish: údar m
Italian: autore (it) m, autrice (it) f
Japanese: 著者 (ja) (ちょしゃ, chosha), 作家 (ja) (さっか, sakka), 作者 (ja) (さくしゃ, sakusha), 作成者 (さくせいしゃ, sakuseisha), 筆者 (ja) (ひっしゃ, hissha)
Kazakh: автор (kk) (avtor), жазушы (kk) (jazuşy)
Khmer: គន្ថការ (kŭənthaʼkaa)
Korean: 저자(著者) (ko) (jeoja), 작가(作家) (ko) (jakga), 글쓴이 (geulsseuni), 지은이 (jieuni), 작자(作者) (ko) (jakja), 필자(筆者) (ko) (pilja)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: daner (ku)
Kyrgyz: автор (ky) (avtor), жазуучу (ky) (jazuuçu)
Lao: ນັກປະພັນ (nak pa phan)
Latin: auctor (la) m; repertor m (figurative)
Latvian: autors m, autore f
Lithuanian: autorius m, autorė f
Luxembourgish: Auteur m
Macedonian: автор m (avtor), авторка f (avtorka)
Marathi: लेखक m (lekhak), लेखिका f (lekhikā)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: зохиолч (mn) (zoxiolč), зохиогч (mn) (zoxiogč)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: forfatter (no) m
Nynorsk: forfattar m
Occitan: autor (oc) m
Persian: پدیدآورنده‎ (padidâvarande), مؤلف‎ (fa) (mo'allef)
Plautdietsch: Schreftstala m
Polish: autor (pl) m, autorka (pl) f
Portuguese: autor (pt) m
Romanian: autor (ro) m, autoare (ro) f
Russian: а́втор (ru) m (ávtor), созда́тель (ru) m (sozdátelʹ), творе́ц (ru) m (tvoréc)
Scottish Gaelic: ùghdar m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: а̀утор m, а̀уторица f
Roman: àutor (sh) m, àutorica (sh) f
Slovak: autor (sk) m, autorka (sk) f
Slovene: avtor m, avtorica f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: awtor m, awtorka f
Spanish: autor (es) m, autora (es) f, escritor (es) m, escritora (es) f
Swahili: mwandishi (sw)
Swedish: författare (sv) c (literature), upphovsman (sv) c
Tajik: муаллиф (muallif), мусанниф (musannif), нависанда (tg) (navisanda)
Tamil: படைப்பாளர் (paṭaippāḷar), நூலாசிரியர் (ta) (nūlāciriyar)
Telugu: రచయిత (te) (racayita), రచయిత్రి (racayitri), కర్త (te) (karta), గ్రంథకర్త (granthakarta), గ్రంథకారుడు (granthakāruḍu)
Thai: ผู้เขียน (pûu-kǐian), นักประพันธ์ (nák-bprà-pan)
Turkish: yazar (tr), müellif (tr)
Turkmen: awtor (tk), ýazyjy
Ukrainian: а́втор (uk) m (ávtor), а́вторка (uk) f (ávtorka)
Uyghur: ئاپتور‎ (aptor), مۇئەللىپ‎ (mu'ellip), ئاساسچى‎ (asaschi)
Uzbek: muallif (uz), avtor (uz), yozuvchi (uz)
Vietnamese: tác giả (vi)
Volapük: lautan (vo)
Welsh: awdur (cy) m, awdures (cy) f
Yiddish: מחבר‎ m (mekhaber), מעכאַבער‎ m (mekhaber), שרײַבער‎ m (shrayber), אויטאָר‎ m (oytor), פֿאַרפֿאַסער‎ m (farfaser), שריפֿטשטעלער‎ m (shriftshteler), וואָרטקינסטלער‎ m (vortkinstler), ליטעראַט‎ m (literat), פֿעדערניק‎ m (federnik)
Zazaki: nuskar, nusger
Zhuang: bouxsij

writer — see writer

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: ^{(please verify)} autor (sq) m, ^{(please verify)} autore (sq) f
Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} نوسەر‎ (nuser)
Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} aŭtoro
Ewe: ^{(please verify)} nuŋlɔla
Maltese: ^{(please verify)} awtur m, ^{(please verify)} awtriċi f, ^{(please verify)} kittieb m, ^{(please verify)} kittieba f
Telugu: ^{(please verify)} రచయిత (te) m (racayita), ^{(please verify)} రచయిత్రి f (racayitri)

Verb

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

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

Derived terms

authorable

Translations

to create a work as its author

Arabic: أَلَّفَ‎ (ar) (ʾallafa)
Bulgarian: творя (bg) (tvorja), създавам (bg) (sǎzdavam)
Danish: forfatte (da)
Dutch: schrijven (nl)
Esperanto: aŭtori, verki
Finnish: luoda (fi), tehdä (fi), kirjoittaa (fi)
French: écrire (fr), créer (fr)
Greek: συγγράφω (el) (syngráfo)
Hungarian: ír (hu), alkot (hu), szerez (hu), kezdeményez (hu), szerzője
Ido: skriptar (io)
Italian: creare (it)
Japanese: 著す (ja) (arawasu)
Romanian: crea (ro), scrie (ro)
Slovak: vytvoriť, napísať, tvoriť, písať (sk)
Spanish: escribir (es)
Swedish: författa (sv)
Welsh: awduro

Anagrams

Hotaru

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯.tʰor/, [ˈäu̯t̪ʰɔr]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯.tor/, [ˈäːu̯t̪or]

Noun

author m (genitive authōris); third declension

(proscribed) Alternative form of auctor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	author	authōrēs
Genitive	authōris	authōrum
Dative	authōrī	authōribus
Accusative	authōrem	authōrēs
Ablative	authōre	authōribus
Vocative	author	authōrēs

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

Alternative form of auctour