Etymologically
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actor

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:12. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈæk.tə/, US /ˈæk.tɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English actour (“doer, pleader”),[2][3] borrowed from Latin āctor (“agent, doer; driver of animals; in law, plaintiff; player, orator”),[4][2] partly through Anglo-French,[3] from āctus, the past participle of agere (“to drive, set in motion; to do, perform; to act on stage”),[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ag- (“to drive, draw out, move”),[4][5] with the agent suffix -or.[2][6] It is related to act, agent and agenda.[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An overseer, guardian or steward: 1382 in the OED, translating Latin actor in the Wycliffe Bible,[8][9] about 1384 in Barnhart[2] and the late 14th century in Etymonline.[4]

Semantic evolution

From the mid-15th century it was a doer or maker, and a plaintiff at law;[4][9] a pleader or public prosecutor is from 1413, later only of Roman law.[8] The theatrical sense, one who performs in plays, is first used in 1581, in Sidney's Defence of Poesie,[2][8] and was applied to both men and women.[2][4] Actress is from 1589, first a female doer, and was not used of a woman on the stage until 1666, in Pepys's diary.[2] A participant in any affair, someone who takes part, is from 1603,[8] and the actor-manager of a theatre is from the 19th century.[8]

Timeline

  • 1382 – an overseer, steward.[8]
  • 1413 – a pleader, prosecutor.[8]
  • mid-15th century – a doer, plaintiff.[4]
  • 1581 – a stage player.[2][8]
  • 1589 – actress.[2]
  • 1603 – a participant.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A theatrical performer; a person who acts in plays, films or broadcasts.
  2. A person who takes part in something; a participant: a key actor in the talks.
  3. A person who acts for another, such as the manager of a business.

Word family

  • actorish
  • actorly
  • actor-proof
  • nonactor
  • bad actor

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press