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playwright

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 20:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈpleɪˌɹaɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English play + wright,[2][3][4][5] wright being an obsolete word for a maker.[6] The OED compares the earlier playmaker.[2] Wright is from Old English wrihta (“worker”), from wyrcan (“to work”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An author of plays: 1605, in a commendatory poem printed in Ben Jonson's Sejanus.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The revised OED moved the first record back to 1605;[2] OED 1989 began with 1687,[2][7] and Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the ordinary use to the 1680s, noting that Ben Jonson used it in the 1610s as a mock-name.[3][8] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate gives 1616.[6] OED 1989 defined it as a professional maker of plays, and the Shorter Oxford still notes "especially a professional one".[7][5] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "a maker of plays", quoting Pope.[9] The spelling playwrite, after write, is also found, and the OED compares playwrighting and playwriting.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged adds the sense of someone who adapts material for stage, radio, television or film.[4]

Timeline

  • 1605 – an author of plays.[2][4]
  • 1610s – used by Ben Jonson as a mock-name.[3]
  • 1680s – in general use for a writer of plays.[3][8]
  • 1755 – Johnson: a maker of plays.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who writes plays; a dramatist: The playwright attended every rehearsal of her new comedy.[10][4][2]
  2. A person who adapts material for the stage, radio, television or film.[4]
  • wright
  • wheelwright
  • work
  • playwriting

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins