author
Syllables: au·thorUK/ˈɔː.θə/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈoː.θə/
author noun: the originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition; or, one of the creators of a collaborative work.
Noun
author (plural authors)
- The originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition; or, one of the creators of a collaborative work.
- The copyright of any original writing belongs initially and properly to its author.
- Have you read any Corinthian authors?
- Synonyms:
- bookwright, creator, artist, subcreator, fabulator, writer
- The initial owner of the copyright to a work, especially a work made for hire or a work of corporate authorship.
- The author named on the copyright registration for the Android robot is Google Inc.
- Someone who writes books for a living.
- Principal; the primary participant in a crime.
- We hear […]of fratricidal murders, and stern reprisals on their authors.1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 10, page 158
- Accomplices of a crime or an offence shall incur the same punishment as the authors of such a crime or offence, except when the law will have disposed otherwise.1894, Franco-Siamese Mixed Court, The Case of Kieng Chek (Kham Muon) before the Franco-Siamese Mixed Court, Bangkok: n.p., page 4
- One's authority for something: an informant.
- Let me inform you en passant, Ladies, that those Villains the Heathens, as my Authors tell me, (and I thought it wou'd^([sic]) not be amiss to communicate such a nice Observation to this House) used to call our Saviour Chrestus, and not Christus, by way of Contempt and Derision […]1699, Seven new Colloquies translated out of Erasmus
- 'Wanting the hat,' continues my author, Kirstie, whom I but haltingly follow, for she told this tale like one inspired, 'wanting guns, for there wasna twa grains o' pouder in the house, wi' nae mair weepons than their sticks into their hands, the fower o' them took the road.a. 1895 (date written), Robert Louis Stevenson, “Winter on the Moors: 3. A Border Family.”, in S[idney] C[olvin], editor, Weir of Hermiston: An Unfinished Romance, London: Chatto and Windus […]...
- The creator or cause of anything.
- The other, standing nearly head-on toward the hunters, had not proved so good a mark, and though every spear struck not one entered the great heart. For a moment the huge bull stood trumpeting in rage and pain, casting about with its little eyes for the author of its hurt.1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg, published March 1915, →OCLC, page 132
Verb
author (third-person singular simple present authors, present participle authoring, simple past and past participle authored)
- To create a work as its author.
author meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
author in Hindi
- originator or creator of a work
- लेखक lekhak, लेखिका lekhikā, प्रणेता praṇetā
author in Tamil
- originator or creator of a work
- படைப்பாளர் paṭaippāḷar, நூலாசிரியர் nūlāciriyar
author in Marathi
- originator or creator of a work
- लेखक lekhak, लेखिका lekhikā
author in Urdu
- originator or creator of a work
- مصنف musannif, مصنفہ musannifa
More languagesFewer languages
- author in Bengali
- লেখক lekhok, স্রষ্টা srośṭa
- author in Telugu
- రచయిత racayita, రచయిత్రి racayitri, కర్త karta, గ్రంథకర్త granthakarta
- author in Malayalam
- രചയിതാവ് racayitāvŭ
- author in Kannada
- ಬರಹಗಾರ, ಲೇಖಕ, ಕೃತಿಕಾರ, ಗ್ರಂಥಕರ್ತ
- author in Gujarati
- લેખક lekhak
- author in Odia
- କର୍ତ୍ତା karttā
- author in Sanskrit
- कार kārá
- author in Arabic
- مُؤَلِّف muʔallif, مُصَنِّف muṣannif, أَلَّفَ ʔallafa
- author in Indonesian
- pengarang
- author in Persian
- پدیدآورنده padid-âvarande, مؤلف mo'allef
- author in Thai
- ผู้เขียน pûu-kǐian, นักประพันธ์ nák-bprà-pan, นักเขียน nák-kǐian
- author in Vietnamese
- tác giả
- author in Myanmar
- စာရေးဆရာ care:hca.ra
Examples of author in a sentence
- This paper has three authors.
- Eternal King; thee, Author of all being.1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...
- The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.1755 April 15, Samuel Johnson, “Preface”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume I (A–K), London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul]...
- "The cranium is clearly plesiomorphic in overall form, presenting primitive traits shared by earlier hominins," the authors wrote.2025 September 27, Julia Jacobo, “Million-year-old skull could rewrite timeline of human origin, researchers say”, in ABC News, archived...
Synonyms of author
Forms of author
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | authors |
| alternative form (obsolete) | aucthor |
| alternative form (obsolete) | aucthour |
| alternative form (obsolete) | auctor |
| alternative form (obsolete) | auctour |
| alternative form (obsolete) | auctoure |
| alternative form (obsolete) | authour |
| alternative form (obsolete) | authoure |
| alternative form (obsolete) | autor |
| alternative form (obsolete) | autour |
| alternative form (obsolete) | autoure |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | authors |
| present participle | authoring |
| past participle | authored |
| past | authored |
Origin of author
From Middle English auctour, from Anglo-Norman autour, from Old French autor, from Latin auctor, from augeō (“to increase, originate”). The h, also found in Middle French autheur, is unetymological as there is no h in the original Latin spelling. The OED attributes the h to contamination by authentic. Doublet of auteur.
Words formed from author
- authorable
- authorcraft
- authordom
- authorer
- authoress
- authress
- authorhood
- authorial
- authorish
- authorism
- authorless
- authorlike
- authorling
- authorly
- author mill
- author of life
- author's edition
- author's plural
- author's we
- AuthorTube
- coauthor
- co-author
- corresponding author
- death of the author
- hyperauthor
- multiauthor
- nonauthor
- overauthor
- reauthor
- Suethor
Phrases with author
Questions about author
- What does author mean?
- Author means the originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition; or, one of the creators of a collaborative work.
- What is author in Hindi?
- Author in Hindi is लेखक (lekhak), लेखिका (lekhikā), प्रणेता (praṇetā). See Author meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use author in a sentence?
- This paper has three authors.
- What part of speech is author?
- Author can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce author?
- Author is pronounced /ˈɔː.θə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of author?
- The plural of author is authors.
Words near author in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: author (page history and authors); രചയിതാവ് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); author (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); କର୍ତ୍ତା (Odia) (page history and authors); कार (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-author.ogg.
Cite this entry: “author.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/author. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.