author - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

author

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈɔːθər/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈɔθɚ/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(ô′thər)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024
au•thor /ˈɔθɚ/USA pronunciation   n. 
    [countable]
  1. Literaturesomeone who creates a book, article, etc.;
    writer.
  2. Computingthe writer of a software program.
  3. the maker of anything;
    creator: the author of the new tax plan.

v. [~ + object]
  1. Literatureto be the author of:to author a novel.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024
au•thor  (ô′thər),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Literaturea person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist.
  2. Literaturethe literary production or productions of a writer:to find a passage in an author.
  3. the maker of anything;
    creator;
    originator:the author of a new tax plan.
  4. Computingthe writer of a software program, esp. a hypertext or multimedia application.

v.t. 
  1. Literatureto write;
    be the author of:He authored a history of the Civil War.
  2. to originate;
    create a design for:She authored a new system for teaching chemistry.
  • Latin, as above
  • Anglo-French, for Old French autor
  • Latin auctor writer, progenitor, equivalent. to aug(ēre) to increase, augment + -tor -tor; replacing Middle English auto(u)r
  • earlier auct(h)or 1250–1300
au•tho•ri•al  (ô thôr′ē əl, ô thōr′-),USA pronunciation adj.  au′thor•less, adj. 

author, +n. 
  1. Computingthe writer of a software program, esp. a hypertext or multimedia application.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
author /ˈɔːθə/ n
  1. a person who composes a book, article, or other written work
    Related adjective(s): auctorial
  2. a person who writes books as a profession; writer
  3. an originator or creator: the author of this plan
 vb (transitive)
  1. to write or originate
Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French autor, from Latin auctor author, from augēre to increase

authorial /ɔːˈθɔːrɪəl/ adj
'author' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
AP - Adams - Adler - Agate - Alain-Fournier - Alcott - Aleichem - Alemán - Alger - Allen - Allingham - Allston - Althusser - American Book Award - Andersen - Andrews - Andrić - Andromeda strain - Androuet du Cerceau - Apollinaire - Arbuthnot - Arciniegas - Arendt - Argüedas - Ariosto - Arno - Arnoldson - Asch - Atkinson - Aubrey - Augustan - Augustine - Bagehot - Ballantyne - Barbour - Barker - Barth - Baum - Beaglehole - Beccaria - Beckford - Benda - Benoît de Sainte-Maure - Berryman - Bierce - Blackmore - Blake - Blanc - Blavatsky - Bloch
Collocations: author a [book, novel, article, bestseller], a [great, published, bestselling, famous, known] author, author [information, index], more...

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