actor

English

Alternative forms

• actour (obsolete)

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

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)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Homophone: acter
• Rhymes: -æktə(ɹ)

Noun

actor (plural actors, feminine actress)

1. A person who performs in a theatrical play or film.
   • 1991, Ani DiFranco (lyrics and music), “Anticipate”, in Not So Soft:

     Seems like everyone's an actor / Or they're an actor's best friend / I wonder what was wrong to begin with / That they should all have to pretend
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).
8. (linguistics, grammar) The most agent-like argument of a clause, e.g. 'the torpedo' in "The torpedo sank the boat" and "The torpedo fired".

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

Antonyms

• (grammatical role): undergoer

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 actress

• Afrikaans: akteur (af), aktrise (actress)
• Albanian: aktor (sq) m, aktore (sq) f (actress)
• Arabic: مُمَثِّل m (mumaṯṯil), مُمَثِّلَة f (mumaṯṯila)

  Egyptian Arabic: ممثل m (mumassil), ممثلة f (mumassila)

• 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) (actress)
• Bengali: অভিনেতা (obhineta), অভিনেত্রী (obhinetri) (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 (actress)
• Chechen: артист (artist)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 演員／演员 (zh) (yǎnyuán), 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 (actress), toneelspeler (nl) m, toneelspeelster (nl) f (actress)
• Elfdalian: skåðespilär m
• Esperanto: aktoro, aktorino (female)
• Estonian: näitleja, näitlejanna (et) (actress), näitlejatar (et) (actress)
• Faroese: sjónleikari m
• Finnish: näyttelijä (fi)
• French: acteur (fr) m, actrice (fr) f (actress)
• Galician: actor (gl) m
• Georgian: მსახიობი (msaxiobi), მსახიობი კაცი (msaxiobi ḳaci), მსახიობი ქალი (msaxiobi kali)
• German: Schauspieler (de) m, Schauspielerin (de) f (actress)
• Greek: ηθοποιός (el) m or f (ithopoiós)

  Ancient: ὑποκριτής m (hupokritḗs)

• Greenlandic: isiginnaartitsisartoq
• Hebrew: שַׂחְקָן (he) m (sakhkán)
• Hindi: अभिनेता (hi) m (abhinetā), अभिनेत्री (hi) f (abhinetrī) (actress), अदाकार (hi) m (adākār), रंगकर्मी m (raṅgkarmī), कलाकार (hi) m (kalākār), एक्टर m (ekṭar)
• Hungarian: színész (hu), színésznő (hu) (actress), színművész (hu)
• Icelandic: leikari (is) m, leikkona (is) f (actress)
• Ido: aktoro (io)
• Indonesian: aktor (id), pemeran (id), aktris (id) (actress)
• Interlingue:
• Irish: aisteoir m
• Italian: attore (it) m, attrice (it) f (actress)
• 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 (aktrisa) (actress)
• Khmer: រង្គាជីព (km) (rŭəngkiəciip), អ្នកលេងកុន (nĕək leing 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), ນັກສະແດງ (nak sa dǣng)
• Latin: āctor m, āctrīx f (actress), histriō m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: aktieris m, aktrise f (actress)
• Lithuanian: aktorius m, aktorė f (actress)
• Luxembourgish: Schauspiller, Acteur
• Macedonian: актер m (akter), артист m (artist), актерка f (akterka) (actress), артистка f (artistka) (actress)
• Malagasy: mpilalao (mg)
• Malay: pelakon, aktres (ms) (actress)
• Maltese: attur m, attriċi f (actress)
• Maori: kaitapere
• Mongolian: жүжигчин (mn) (žüžigčin)
• Navajo: áhodilʼį́įnii
• Norman: acteur m, actrice f
• Northern Sami: neavttár
• Norwegian:

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

  Nynorsk: skodespelar (nn) m, skodespelarinne f (actress)

• Occitan: actor (oc) m
• Oriya: ଅଭିନେତା (ôbhineta), ଅଭିନେତ୍ରୀ (ôbhinetri) (actress)
• Pashto: ايکټر m (ekṭár)
• Persian: بازیگر (fa) (bâzigar), آکتور (fa) (âktor), آکتریس (fa) (âktris) (actress)
• Polish: aktor (pl) m, aktorka (pl) f (actress)
• Portuguese: ator (pt) m, atriz (pt) f (actress)
• Romanian: actor (ro) m, actriță (ro) f (actress)
• Romansch: actur m, actura f (actress)
• 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 (actress)

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

• Sinhalese: නළුවා (naḷuwā), නිළිය (niḷiya), රංගන ශිල්පියා (raṁgana śilpiyā), රංගන ශිල්පිනිය (raṁgana śilpiniya)
• Slovak: herec (sk) m, herečka (sk) f (actress)
• Slovene: igralec (sl) m, igralka f (actress)
• Sotho: sebapadi
• Spanish: actor (es) m, actriz (es) f (actress)
• 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: นักแสดง (th) (nák-sà-dɛɛng)
• 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) (actress)
• Urdu: اداکار m (adākār)
• Uyghur: ئارتىس (artis), ئەرتىس (ertis)
• Uzbek: aktyor (uz), aktrisa (uz) (actress), artist (uz)
• Vietnamese: diễn viên (vi), nữ diễn viên (actress)
• Volapük: (♂♀) dramatan (vo), (♂) hidramatan, (♀) jidramatan
• Welsh: actor (cy) m
• Yiddish: שוישפּילער m (shoyshpiler), שוישפּילערין f (shoyshpilerin) (actress), אַקטיאָר m (aktyor), אַקטריסע f (aktrise) (actress)

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)
• Interlingue:
• Italian: attore (it) m, attrice (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maltese: attur
• Polish: aktor (pl) m
• Portuguese: agente (pt) m or 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

plaintiff — see plaintiff

one who enacts a policy action

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

entity performing a role in use case analysis

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} aktoro (io)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• (deprecated template usage) Interlingua: actor

Further reading

• “actor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “actor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “actor”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Croat, Croat., rocta, taroc

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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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əkˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [akˈtoɾ]

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

(deprecated template usage)

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈaːk.tor/, [ˈäːkt̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈak.tor/, [ˈäkt̪or]

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

Declension

Third-declension noun.

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 with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 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 and Roman 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 es)

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)

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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/ [aɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
• 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 de voz
• actor porno

Related terms

• acción
• acto
• actoral
• actuar

Noun

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

1. (law) defendant

Further reading

• Template:R:DRAE 2001

Anagrams

• corta
• tocar

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Welsh

Etymology

From English actor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaktɔr/

Noun

actor m (plural actorion)

1. actor

Coordinate terms

• actores (“actress”)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
actor	unchanged	unchanged	hactor
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “actor”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies