narrator English · revision 39598

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1599, S. Harsnett, Discovery of the Fraudulent Practices of John Darrel|origins=la narrō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /nəˈɹeɪ.tə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈnæˌɹeɪ.təɹ/, /ˈnæɹ.ə.təɹ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|narrātor|t=a teller, relater, historian]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) an agent noun formed with the suffix [[-or]] on [[m|la|narrātus]], the past participle of [[m|la|narrō|t=to tell, relate]], the verb behind [[narrate]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) The OED compares [[m|frm|narrateur]], recorded in Middle French from the early 16th century, and notes that the English verb ''narrate'' is later.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) gave both the French and the Latin word as its source.^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who narrates or gives an account of something: 1599, in Samuel Harsnett's ''Discovery of the Fraudulent Practices of John Darrel''.^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates the word to the 1610s and the Shorter Oxford to the early 17th century.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) defined a narrator simply as "a teller; a relater".^(Johnson 1755) The form ''narrater'' was also used in early modern English.^(SOED 2002) The literary sense, the voice or persona through which the events of a novel or narrative poem are told, whether named or only implied, is recorded from 1722, in Allan Ramsay's ''Tale of Three Bonnets''.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Broadcasting and film added a further sense: a 1941 BBC glossary has the word for a character who tells part of the plot to the audience, or for the person who speaks a commentary,^(OED 2026) and Etymonline also dates the sense "commentator in a radio programme" to 1941.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1599 – a person who gives an account of something.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1610s – Etymonline's first date.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1722 – the voice that tells the events of a novel or narrative poem.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1941 – a character who relates the plot to the audience; a person who speaks a commentary.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who tells a [[story]] or gives an [[account]] of events.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The voice or character through whom the events of a [[novel]], poem or other [[narrative]] are told: ''Halfway through the book we begin to doubt the narrator.''^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A person who speaks the [[commentary]] that accompanies a film, television programme or stage performance.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[narrate]]

+ * [[narration]]

+ * [[narrative]]

+ * [[raconteur]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}