Etymologically
Log in

Autor

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 18:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈaʊ̯toːɐ̯/[1]

Forms

Autor m (mixed or weak, genitive Autors or (rare, proscribed) Autoren, plural Autoren, feminine Autorin)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin auctor (“originator, founder, author”), also spelled autor in Latin, an agent noun of augeō (“to increase, promote”), borrowed in the 15th century.[2][3][4][1] Literally the Latin word meant “increaser, promoter”.[4][5] Wahrig gives French auteur as the immediate source.[6] Duden connects the Latin verb with wachsen.[4]

The same word is Dutch auteur, English author and Swedish auktor.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is from 1473, when Heinrich Steinhöwel wrote of der auctor dises büchlins (“the author of this little book”).[3][7] The Revised Grimm cites a Lancelot manuscript of about 1430 where auctor may mean “authority, source”.[8] Early New High German used the word for the originator or instigator of something and for the author of a longer text.[9]

Semantic evolution

Until the 18th century it was also written Auctor and often inflected as in Latin, though the present form occurs from the 16th century.[3] In the vernaculars the Latin sense “originator” soon narrowed to “writer”.[2] Cochläus inflected the word in German in 1538, but it became current only in the 18th century, in Gellert, Lessing, Wieland and especially Goethe: Wenn einem Autor ein Lexikon nachkommen kann, so taugt er nichts (“if a dictionary can keep up with an author, he is no good”).[7] From the beginning it often meant a poet, and in the 19th and 20th centuries it was widened to the creators of music, art, film and photography.[3] The feminine Autorin is recorded from the early 18th century.[4] The native replacement is Verfasser.[2] Polish and Czech autor and Russian автор (avtor) were borrowed from German.[1]

Timeline

  • About 1430 – auctor appears in a Lancelot manuscript.[8]
  • 1473 – Steinhöwel uses auctor for the author of a book.[3][7]
  • Around 1500 – autorisieren is borrowed.[7][4]
  • 1538 – Cochläus inflects the word in German.[7]
  • Early 18th century – Autorin appears.[4]
  • 1752 – Rabener uses Autorschaft.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An author, the writer of a literary work or of a text: Die Autorin las aus ihrem neuen Roman.[5][1]
  2. (less common) The creator of a work of music, art, photography or film.[5][10]
  3. A person who causes or brings about something.[10][9]

Word family

  • Autorin
  • Autorschaft
  • Autorität
  • autorisieren
  • Auktion
  • English author

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 78
  3. ^ a b c d e Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
  4. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 120
  5. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  6. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  8. ^ a b Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 3, 1663
  9. ^ a b Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  10. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org