acteur French · revision 16795

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1236, Guillaume de Lorris (author); 1663, Molière (actor)|origins=la agō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ak.tœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''acteur''' ''m'' (plural acteurs, feminine actrice)^(Wiktionary)

+ Feminine ''actrice''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|āctor|t=one who acts; performer; pleader]], from [[m|la|agō|t=to do, act]] (see [[agir]]).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|24, 117a)^(Littré 1873) Its first senses, “author of a book” and “author of an action”, come from a confusion with [[m|la|auctor|t=author]], often spelled “actor” in medieval Latin texts.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) Wiktionary describes it as inherited from Middle French.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Guillaume de Lorris (''Roman de la Rose'', 1236) has ''Un acteur qui a nom Macrobes'', “an author named Macrobius”.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “author of a book” lasted from the 13th to the 16th century, and “author” in general, the doer of an action (Monstrelet, 1450), from the 15th to the 17th.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi) Before 1630 d'Aubigné calls a princess one of the leading ''actrices'' in court intrigues, and Madame de Sévigné (1689) calls card players ''acteurs''.^(TLFi)

+

+ The theatrical sense, a person who plays a character on stage, is in Molière's ''Impromptu de Versailles'' (1663); the Grand Robert dates the sense “character of a play” to the early 17th century.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(BHVF) It was later extended to the cinema and television, and figuratively to anyone who takes an active part in events.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1236 – “Author of a book”, Guillaume de Lorris.^(TLFi)

+ * 1450 – “Author of an action”, Monstrelet.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1630 – ''Actrice'' “one who plays a part in an affair”, d'Aubigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1663 – A stage actor, Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1689 – A player at cards, Madame de Sévigné.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|actor]], an [[m|en|actress]]: a person whose profession is to play parts on stage or screen: ''acteur de théâtre, de cinéma''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person who plays a part in a particular play or film.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person who takes an active part in events; a [[m|en|protagonist]], a player.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[acte]]

+ * [[action]]

+ * [[agir]]

+ * [[auteur]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}