actor

English

Alternative forms

• actour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin āctor (“doer”), from agō (“to do”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ἄκτωρ (áktōr, “leader”), from ἄγω (ágō, “lead, carry, convey, bring”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæk.tə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæk.tɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: acter
• Rhymes: -æktə(ɹ)

Noun

actor (plural actors, feminine actress)

1. A person who performs in a theatrical play or film.
2. One who acts; a doer.
3. One who takes part in a situation.
4. (law) An advocate or proctor in civil courts or causes.
5. (law) One who institutes a suit; plaintiff or complainant.
6. (policy debate) One who enacts a certain policy action.
7. (software engineering) The entity that performs a role (in use case analysis).

Usage notes

• In the sense of a person who acts in a play or film, the traditional sense of the word only applied to male actors; the term actress being used for the female counterpart. This distinction is now normally avoided.

Synonyms

• (person who performs in a theatrical play or film): performer, player
• (one who acts): doer
• (one who takes part): participant
• (advocate in civil courts or cases):
• (a plaintiff): complainant, plaintiff
• (one who enacts a policy action)
• (entity performing a role in use case analysis): role

Hyponyms

• (person who performs in a theatrical play or film): actress f
• enactor
• reenactor

Derived terms

• nonstate actor
• straight actor
• voice actor

Related terms

• act
• acting
• action
• actress
• actual
• transaction

Translations

person who performs in a theatrical play or film — See also translations at actress

• Afrikaans: akteur (af), aktrise (actress)
• Albanian: aktor (sq) m, aktore (sq) f
• Arabic: مُمَثِّل‎‎ m (mumaṯṯil), مُمَثِّلَة‎‎ f (mumaṯṯila)
• Armenian: դերասան (hy) (derasan)
• Asturian: actor m
• Azerbaijani: aktyor (az), artist (az), aktrisa (actress)
• Basque: aktore (eu), antzezle (eu)
• Belarusian: акцёр m (akcjór), актры́са f (aktrýsa)
• Bengali: অভিনেতা (ôbhineta), অভিনেত্রী (ôbhinetri) (actress)
• Bulgarian: актьо́р (bg) m (aktjór), арти́ст (bg) m (artíst), актри́са (bg) f (aktrísa), арти́стка (bg) f (artístka)
• Burmese: ဇာတ်ဆောင် (my) (jathcaung), မင်းသား (my) (mang:sa:)
• Catalan: actor (ca) m, actriu (ca) f
• Chechen: артист (artist)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 演員 (zh), 演员 (zh) (yǎnyuán), 伶 (zh) (líng)

• Czech: herec (cs) m, herečka (cs) f
• Danish: skuespiller (da) c, skuespillerinde (da) c (actress)
• Dutch: acteur (nl) m, actrice (nl) f, toneelspeler (nl) m, toneelspeelster (nl) f
• Elfdalian: skåðespilär m
• Esperanto: aktoro, aktorino (female)
• Estonian: näitleja, näitlejanna (actress), näitlejatar (actress)
• Faroese: sjónleikari m
• Finnish: näyttelijä (fi)
• French: acteur (fr) m, actrice (fr) f
• Galician: actor (gl) m
• Georgian: მსახიობი (msaxiobi), მსახიობი კაცი (msaxiobi ḳaci), მსახიობი ქალი (msaxiobi kali)
• German: Schauspieler (de) m, Schauspielerin (de) f
• Greek: ηθοποιός (el) m, f (ithopoiós)

  Ancient: ὑποκριτής m (ὑpokritís), ὑποκρίτισσα f (hupokrítissa)

• Greenlandic: isiginnaartitsisartoq
• Hebrew: שַׂחְקָן‎‎ (he) m (sakhkán)
• Hindi: अभिनेता (hi) m (abhinetā), अभिनेत्री (hi) f (abhinetrī)
• Hungarian: színész (hu), színésznő (hu) (actress)
• Icelandic: leikari (is) m, leikkona (is) f
• Ido: aktoro (io)
• Indonesian: aktor (id), pemeran (id), aktris (id) (actress)
• Irish: aisteoir m
• Italian: attore (it) m, attrice (it) f
• Japanese: 俳優 (ja) (はいゆう, haiyū), 役者 (ja) (やくしゃ, yakusha), 女優 (ja) (じょゆう, joyū) (actress), 演技者 (えんぎしゃ, engisha)
• Kashubian: teatrownik
• Kazakh: актер (akter), сахнагер (saxnager), актриса (aktrïsa) (actress)
• Khmer: រង្គាជីព (km) (rɑŋkieciip), អ្នកលេងកុន (neak leeŋ kon) (colloquial)
• Korean: 배우 (ko) (bae-u) (俳優 (ko)), 여배우 (ko) (yeobae-u) (女俳優 (ko)) (actress), 연기자 (ko) (yeon-gija) (演技者 (ko)), 여우 (ko) (yeou) (女優 (ko)) (actress)
• Kyrgyz: актёр (ky) (aktyor), актриса (ky) (aktrisa) (actress)
• Lao: ນັກສະແດງລະຄອນ (nak sa dǣng la khǭn), ຕົວລະຄອນ (tūa la khǭn), ນາງລະຄອນ (nāng la khǭn) (actress)
• Latin: āctor m, āctrīx f
• Latvian: aktieris m, aktrise f

• Lithuanian: aktorius m, aktorė f
• Luxembourgish: Schauspiller, Acteur
• Macedonian: актер m (akter), артист m (artist), актерка f (akterka), артистка f (artistka)
• Malagasy: mpilalao (mg)
• Malay: pelakon, aktres (ms) (actress)
• Maltese: attur m, attriċi f
• Maori: kaitapere
• Mongolian: жүжигчин (mn) (žüžigčin)
• Navajo: áhodilʼį́įnii
• Norman: acteur m, actrice f
• Northern Sami: neavttár
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skuespiller (no) m, skuespillerinne (no) m, f

  Nynorsk: skodespelar (nn) m, skodespelarinne f

• Occitan: actor (oc) m
• Oriya: ଅଭିନେତା m (abhinetā), ଅଭିନେତ୍ରୀ f (abhinetrī)
• Persian: بازیگر‎‎ (fa) (bâzigar), آکتور‎‎ (fa) (âktor), آکتریس‎‎ (fa) (âktris)
• Polish: aktor (pl) m, aktorka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ator (pt) m, atriz (pt) f
• Romanian: actor (ro) m, actriță (ro) f
• Romansch: actur m, actura f
• Russian: актёр (ru) m (aktjór), актри́са (ru) f (aktrísa), арти́ст (ru) m (artíst), арти́стка (ru) f (artístka)
• Scots: actor
• Scottish Gaelic: cluicheadair m, cleasaiche m, ban-chleasaiche f, ban-chluicheadair f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: глумац m, глумица f

  Roman: glumac (sh) m, glumica (sh) f

• Sinhalese: නළුවා (naḷuvā), නිළිය (niḷiya), රංගන ශිල්පියා (raṁgana śilpiyā), රංගන ශිල්පිනිය (raṁgana śilpiniya)
• Slovak: herec (sk) m, herečka (sk) f
• Slovene: igralec (sl) m, igralka f
• Sotho: sebapadi
• Spanish: actor (es) m, actriz (es) f
• Swahili: mwigaji
• Swedish: skådespelare (sv) c, skådespelerska (sv) c (female), aktör (sv) c, aktris (sv) c (female)
• Tagalog: aktor (tl), artista (tl), manlalabas
• Tajik: актёр (aktyor), актриса (aktrisa) (actress)
• Tamil: நடிகன் (ta) (naṭikaṉ)
• Telugu: నటుడు (te) (naṭuḍu)
• Thai: นักแสดงชาย (nák sàdaeng chaai), นักแสดง (th) (nák-sà-dɛɛng), นักแสดงหญิง (nák sàdaeng yĭng) (actress)
• Turkish: oyuncu (tr), aktör (tr) m, aktris (tr) f
• Turkmen: aktýor (tk), artist (tk), aktrisa (tk) (actress)
• Ukrainian: акто́р (uk) m (aktór), актри́са (uk) f (aktrýsa)
• Urdu: اداکار‎‎ m (adākār)
• Uzbek: aktyor (uz), aktrisa (uz) (actress)
• Vietnamese: diễn viên (vi), nữ diễn viên (actress)
• Volapük: (♂♀) dramatan (vo), (♂) hidramatan, (♀) jidramatan
• Welsh: actor (cy) m
• Yiddish: שוישפּילער‎‎ m (shoyshpiler), שוישפּילערין‎‎ f (shoyshpilerin), אַקטיאָר‎‎ m (aktyor), אַקטריסע‎‎ f (aktrise)

one who acts; a doer

• Albanian: aktor (sq) m, aktore (sq) f, bërës (sq) m, bërëse f
• Bulgarian: извърши́тел (bg) m (izvǎršítel)
• Chechen: артист (artist)
• Esperanto: aganto
• Finnish: tekijä (fi), toimija (fi)
• French: faiseur (fr) m, faiseuse (fr) f
• German: Handelnder m, Handelnde f (der / die Handelnde)
• Hungarian: cselekvő (hu)
• Ido: aganto (io)
• Italian: attore (it) m, attrice (it) f

• Maltese: attur
• Polish: aktor (pl) m
• Portuguese: agente (pt) m, f
• Romanian: făcător (ro) m, făcătoare (ro) f
• Russian: де́ятель (ru) m (déjatelʹ), де́ятельница (ru) f (déjatelʹnica)
• Scottish Gaelic: cluicheadair m, cleasaiche m, ban-chleasaiche f, ban-chluicheadair f
• Slovak: činiteľ m
• Swedish: aktör (sv)
• Turkish: aktör (tr) n

one who takes part in a situation

• Bulgarian: участник (bg) (učastnik)
• Chechen: артист (artist)
• Finnish: tekijä (fi)
• French: acteur (fr) m, actrice (fr) f

• Romanian: participant (ro) m, participantă (ro) f
• Russian: уча́стник (ru) m (učástnik), уча́стница (ru) f (učástnica)
• Slovak: účastník m
• Telugu: పాత్రధారి (te) (pātradhāri)

advocate in civil courts or cases

plaintiff — see plaintiff

one who enacts a policy action

entity performing a role in use case analysis

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} aktoro (io)

• Interlingua: actor

Further reading

• actor in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• actor in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• actor at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Croat, Croat., rocta

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Asturian

Etymology

From Latin āctor.

Noun

actor m (plural actores)

1. actor

Related terms

• actriz

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin āctor.

Noun

actor m (plural actors, feminine actriu)

1. actor

Related terms

• actuar

Further reading

• “actor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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Galician

Etymology

From Latin āctor.

Noun

actor m (plural actores)

1. actor

Related terms

• actriz

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Latin

Etymology

Agent noun formed from āctus +‎ -tor, perfect passive participle of agō (“do, act, make”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈaːk.tor/, [ˈaːk.tɔr]

Noun

āctor m (genitive āctōris); third declension

1. doer
2. actor (person who performs in a theatrical play or movie)
3. (law) prosecutor, plaintiff, advocate, orator

Inflection

Third declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	āctor	āctōrēs
genitive	āctōris	āctōrum
dative	āctōrī	āctōribus
accusative	āctōrem	āctōrēs
ablative	āctōre	āctōribus
vocative	āctor	āctōrēs

Related terms

• āctiō
• āctrīx
• āctus
• agitō

Descendants

• Asturian: actor
• Catalan: actor
• English: actor
• French: acteur
• Galician: actor
• Italian: attore

• Occitan: actor
• Persian: بازیگر‎
• Portuguese: ator
• Romanian: actor
• Russian: актёр m (aktjór)
• Spanish: actor

References

• actor in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• actor in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• actor in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• actor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the actor who plays the leading part: actor primarum (secundarum, tertiarum) partium
    
• actor in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[2]
• actor in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• actor in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• actor in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

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Portuguese

Noun

actor m (plural actores)

1. superseded spelling of ator.

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Romanian

Alternative forms

• aftor (dated)

Etymology

Borrowed from French acteur, Latin āctor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /akˈtor/

Noun

actor m (plural actori, feminine equivalent actriță)

1. (acting) actor

Declension

declension of actor

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) actor	actorul	(niște) actori	actorii
genitive/dative	(unui) actor	actorului	(unor) actori	actorilor
vocative	actorule		actorilor

Synonyms

• artist, interpret

Derived terms

• actoraș
• actoricesc
• actorie

See also

• teatralist

References

• actor in DEX online - Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language), 2004-2018

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Scots

Etymology

From English actor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaktər/

Noun

actor (plural actors)

1. actor

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin actor

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɡˈtoɾ/, [aɣˈt̪oɾ]
• Hyphenation: act‧or

Noun

actor m (plural actores, feminine actriz, feminine plural actrices)

1. actor (person who performs in a theatrical play or movie)

Derived terms

• actor voz

Related terms

• acción
• acto
• actoral
• actuar

Noun

actor m (plural actores, feminine actora, feminine plural actoras)

1. (law) defendant

Further reading

• “actor” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.