ator

Forms

ator m (plural atores, feminine atriz, feminine plural atrizes)^[1] The first records are spelt actor, the spelling of Portugal before the 1990 agreement.^[2][3][1] The feminine is atriz, recorded from the 18th century.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin āctor (“one who drives or does; agent; plaintiff; performer”).^[2][3][4] Nascentes calls it semi-learned, and Wiktionary has it from Old Galician-Portuguese abtor, a semi-learned form.^[5][1]

The Latin word is an agent noun of agō (“to drive; to do”) with -tor.^[6][1] Machado notes that the old Portuguese meaning was only legal, “plaintiff”, and thinks the theatrical sense owes something to French, where French acteur came to belong to the stage alone.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is of 1532.^[2] Machado quotes the legal sense from the Ordenações Manuelinas: Actor que demanda em juízo mais do que lhe é devido é condenado nas custas em tresdobro “a plaintiff who claims in court more than he is owed is sentenced to pay the costs three times over”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 has both senses, actor nas demandas “in lawsuits” and actor nas comoedias “in comedies”.^[4] Cunha dates the theatrical sense to the 17th century.^[3] Morais (1813) defines the word as a performer of drama and marks “plaintiff” as out of use.^[7] Today the word also means anyone who plays an active part in an event, and, figuratively, a dissembler.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1532 – first record, spelt actor.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa gives the legal and the theatrical sense.^[4]
• 17th century – Cunha's date for the sense “stage actor”.^[3]
• 18th century – first record of the feminine atriz.^[3]
• 1813 – Morais marks the legal sense as obsolete.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An actor, one who plays a part in plays, films or television series: O ator estreou no teatro aos vinte anos.^[2][1]
2. Someone who takes an active part in an event: um dos atores da independência.^[2][8]
3. (figurative) Someone good at pretending; a hypocrite.^[2][9]
4. (law, obsolete) A plaintiff.^[9][7]

Word family

• atriz

Related words

• ato
• ação
• agir
• Latin actor

Usage notes

Houaiss records ator de feira for a player in itinerant shows at fairs.^[2] Michaelis gives atora beside atriz as a feminine.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ator
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ator
4. ^ a b c d e Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. actor
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ator
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. actor
7. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 36
8. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. ator
9. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. ator
10. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. ator