player

See also: Player

English

Etymology

From Middle English pleyer, playere, from Old English pleġere (“player, athlete, wrestler”), equivalent to play +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpleɪə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -eɪə(ɹ)

Noun

player (plural players)

1. One that plays
   1. One who plays any game or sport.
   2. (theater) An actor in a dramatic play.
      • 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It:

        All the world's a stage / And all the men and women merely players

   3. (music) One who plays on a musical instrument.
   4. (gaming, video games) A gamer; a gamester.
   5. (gambling) A gambler.
   6. (historical) A mechanism that actuates a player piano or other automatic musical instrument.
      • 1915, John McTammany, The Technical History of the Player:

        But up to this time the application of the player mechanism had been confined to reed instruments, the piano manufacturers having successfully resisted the introduction of the player mechanism into the piano; but, in the meantime, the manufacturers of players had grown strong and the manufacturers were beginning to properly interpret the handwriting on the wall
   7. (electronics) An electronic device that plays audio and/or video media, such as CD player.
   8. (computing) A software application that plays audio and/or video media, such as media player.
2. One who is playful; one without serious aims; an idler; a trifler.
3. A significant participant.

   He thought he could become a player, at least at the state level.

   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Another Bush — George W.’s brother Jeb — is likely to be a big player in the Republican Party’s future.

4. (informal) A person who plays the field rather than having a long-term sexual relationship.

Synonyms

• (one who plays; (game) participant; athlete): laker
• See also Thesaurus:libertine

Derived terms

• basketball player
• bit player
• bugle-player
• CD player
• cello player
• flute-player
• football player
• guitar-player
• harp-player
• hockey player
• oboe-player
• piano player
• playerhood
• player-manager
• player piano
• record player
• rugby player
• soccer player
• string player
• tennis player
• trombone-player
• trumpet-player

 

Translations

one who plays any game or sport

• Arabic: لَاعِب m (lāʕib)
• Aragonese: chugador m
• Aromanian: giucãtor m
• Assamese: খেলুৱৈ (kheluoi)
• Asturian: xugador m
• Azerbaijani: lojtar, oyunçu
• Catalan: jugador (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 運動員／运动员 (zh) (yùndòngyuán), 运动员 (zh) (yùndòngyuán), 競賽者／竞赛者 (zh), 竞赛者 (zh) (jìngsàizhe), 選手／选手 (zh) (xuǎnshǒu), 选手 (zh) (xuǎnshǒu)

• Czech: hráč (cs) m
• Danish: spiller (da) c
• Dutch: speler (nl) m
• Finnish: pelaaja (fi)
• French: joueur (fr) m, joueuse (fr) f
• Friulian: zuiadôr m, ğujadôr m, zugadore m
• Galician: xogador m, xogadora f
• Georgian: მოთამაშე (motamaše)
• German: Spieler (de) m
• Greek: παίκτης (el) m (paíktis), παίκτρια (el) f (paíktria)
• Hindi: खेलनेवाला (khelnevālā), खिलाड़ी m (khilāṛī)
• Hungarian: játékos (hu)
• Interlingua: jocator
• Irish: imreoir m
• Istriot: zugadur m
• Italian: giocatore (it)
• Japanese: (mainly, for sports) 選手 (ja) (せんしゅ, senshu), (mainly, for games) プレイヤー (pureiyā)
• Korean: 선수 (ko) (seonsu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: ,

  Sorani:

• Latin: lūsor
• Malay: pemain
• Manchu: ᡴᠠᡨᡠ᠋ᡵᡝᠪᡠᠰᡳ (katurebusi)
• Navajo: naanéhígíí, naanéhé
• Norman: joueux m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: spiller (no) m

• Occitan: jogaire (oc) m, jogador m
• Persian: بازیکن (fa) (baazikon)
• Polish: gracz (pl) m, zawodnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: jogador (pt)
• Romanian: jucător (ro) m, jucători m pl, jucătoare (ro) f or f pl
• Romansch: giugadur m, giujeader m, giuieder m, giuveder m, giovader m
• Russian: игро́к (ru) m (igrók)
• Sardinian: giogadore m, giogadori m, zocadore m
• Serbo-Croatian: ìgrāč (sh) m, igràčica (sh) f
• Shan: ၽူႈလဵၼ်ႈ (phūu lāen)
• Sicilian: jucaturi (scn) m
• Spanish: jugador (es) m, jugadora (es) f
• Swahili: mchezaji (sw)
• Swedish: spelare (sv) c
• Tagalog: manlalaro
• Turkish: oyuncu (tr), sporcu (tr)
• Venetian: xugadore m, zugador m
• Vietnamese: cầu thủ (vi)
• Yiddish: שפּילער m (shpiler)

dramatic actor

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 演員／演员 (zh) (yǎnyuán), 演员 (zh) (yǎnyuán), 藝人／艺人 (zh) (yìrén), 艺人 (zh) (yìrén)

• Czech: herec (cs) m
• Danish: skuespiller (da) c
• Dutch: speler (nl) m, vertolker (nl) m
• Finnish: näyttelijä (fi)
• French: acteur (fr) m, actrice (fr) f, comédien (fr) m, comédienne (fr) f
• Galician: actor (gl) m
• German: Schauspieler (de) m, Spieler (de) m (poetic)
• Greek: ηθοποιός (el) c (ithopoiós)
• Italian: attore (it) m
• Japanese: 俳優 (ja) (はいゆう, haiyū), 芸人 (げいにん, geinin)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji:

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: histrio m, actor m, actrix f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skuespiller (no) m

• Polish: aktor (pl) m, aktorka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ator (pt) m
• Romanian: actor (ro) m, actriță (ro) f, interpret (ro) m
• Russian: лицедей (ru) m (licedej)
• Serbo-Croatian: glúmac (sh) m, glùmica (sh) f
• Spanish: actor (es) m
• Swedish: skådespelare (sv) c
• Turkish: oyuncu (tr)

one who plays a musical instrument

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 玩家 (zh) (wánjiā)

• Czech: hráč (cs) m
• Danish: musiker (da) c
• Dutch: bespeler (nl) m, speler (nl) m
• Finnish: soittaja (fi)
• French: joueur (fr) m, musicien (fr) m, joueuse (fr) f, musicienne (fr) f
• Galician: tocador (gl) m
• German: Spieler (de) m
• Greek: μουσικός (el) c (mousikós)
• Hebrew: נַגָּן (he) m (nagán)
• Irish: seinnteoir m
• Italian: strumentista (it) m or f
• Japanese: 奏者 (そうしゃ, sōsha)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: ,

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: -cen, cantor (la), cantrix (la) f, cantor (la) m
• Norman: joueux m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: spiller (no) m, musiker m

• Polish: muzyk (pl) m
• Portuguese: tocador (pt) m, instrumentista (pt) m
• Romanian: solist instrumentist m, muzician (ro) m
• Russian: музыка́нт (ru) m (muzykánt), исполни́тель (ru) m (ispolnítelʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: svìrāč m, sviràčica (sh) f
• Spanish: instrumentista m
• Swedish: musiker (sv) c, musikant (sv) c
• Turkish: çalgıcı (tr)

video games: gamer, gamester — see also gamer,‎ gamester

• French: gamer (fr) m, gameur (fr) m, gameuse (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Spieler (de) m, Gamer m
• Portuguese: jogador (pt) m, jogadora (pt) f

gambler — see also gambler

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 賭徒／赌徒 (zh) (dǔtú), 赌徒 (zh) (dǔtú)

• Danish: spiller (da) c
• Dutch: speler (nl) m, gokker (nl)
• Finnish: peluri (fi)
• French: joueur (fr) m, joueuse (fr) f, parieur (fr)
• Galician: xogador m
• German: Spieler (de) m
• Japanese: 博徒 (ばくち, bakuchi), ギャンブラー (gyanburā)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji:

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: aleo, aleator (la)
• Norman: joueux m
• Portuguese: apostador m, jogador (pt) m
• Russian: игро́к (ru) m (igrók)
• Serbo-Croatian: kȍckār (sh) m
• Swedish: spelare (sv) c
• Turkish: kumarcı (tr), kumarbaz (tr)

mechanism that actuates a player piano or similar

• Finnish: koneisto (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Vorsetzer m

electronic device

• Belarusian: плэ́ер m (pléjer), прайграва́льнік m (prajhraválʹnik)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 播放機／播放机 (zh) (bōfàngjī), 播放机 (zh) (bōfàngjī), 播放器 (bōfàngqì)

• Czech: přehrávač m
• Dutch: speler (nl) m
• Finnish: soitin (fi)
• French: lecteur (fr) m
• German: Spieler (de) m, Abspieler m, Abspielgerät n, Wiedergabegerät n
• Hungarian: lejátszó
• Italian: lettore (it) m
• Japanese: プレーヤー (purēyā)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: pūpāpāho
• Mongolian: тоглуулагч (mn) (togluulagč)
• Norman: joueux m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: spiller (no) m

• Polish: odtwarzacz (pl) m
• Portuguese: tocador (pt) m, leitor (pt) m, player (pt) m
• Russian: пле́ер (ru) m (pléjer), прои́грыватель (ru) m (proígryvatelʹ)
• Turkish: oynatıcı
• Ukrainian: пле́єр m (pléjer), програва́ч m (prohraváč)

software application

• Arabic: مَشْغَل m (mašḡal)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 播放器 (bōfàngqì)

• Czech: přehrávač m
• Dutch: speler (nl) m, player (nl)
• Finnish: soitin (fi), soitto-ohjelma
• French: lecteur (fr) m
• Georgian: დამკვრელი (damḳvreli)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Player (de) m, Spieler (de) m
• Indonesian: pemutar (id)
• Japanese: プレーヤー (purēyā)
• Maori: pūpāpāho
• Polish: odtwarzacz (pl) m
• Portuguese: player (pt) m, reprodutor (pt) m
• Russian: прои́грыватель (ru) m (proígryvatelʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: izvođač (sh) m, svirač (sh) m, reproduktor (sh) m
• Turkish: oynatıcı

one without serious aims

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 懒惰者, 懒惰者 (lǎnduòzhě)

• Dutch: speler (nl) m, speelvogel (nl) m
• Finnish: peluri (fi)
• French: fainéant (fr) m, fainéante (fr) f
• German: Spielkind n
• Latin: iocator
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norman: joueux m
• Portuguese: brincalhão (pt) m
• Romanian: leneș (ro) m
• Russian: безде́льник (ru) m (bezdélʹnik), лентя́й (ru) m (lentjáj)
• Turkish: oyunbaz (tr), oyuncu (tr)

significant participant

• Finnish: tekijä (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Player (de) m, Akteur (de) m

person "playing the field"

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 渣男 (zhānán)

• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: pelimies (fi), pleijeri
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 遊び人 (あそびにん, asobinin)
• Navajo: naanéhígíí, naanéhé, ayóoʼakalígíí
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: golfo (es) m, golferas m or f (colloquial), frescales (es) m or f (colloquial), bandarra (es) m or f (colloquial)
• Swahili: mchezaji (sw)
• Turkish: çapkın (tr)

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

• Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} speler
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} играч (bg) (igrač)
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} שחקנ (sachkan)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} giocatore (it) m, (1, 2, 5) ^{(please verify)} giocatrice (it) f, ^{(please verify)} attore (it) m, (3) ^{(please verify)} attrice (it) f, ^{(please verify)} suonatore m, (4) ^{(please verify)} suonatrice f, ^{(please verify)} seduttore (it) m, (6) ^{(please verify)} seduttrice (it) f
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} āctor m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} igrach (igrach)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} igrač (sh)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} igrač (sh)
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} hrac
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} jugador (es)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} oyuncu (tr)

See also

• baller

Anagrams

• Rapley, parley, pearly, prelay, replay

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Middle English

Noun

player

1. Alternative form of pleyer

---

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English player.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈplej.eʁ/

Noun

player m (plural s)

1. (electronics) player (electronic device or software application that plays media)
2. (video games) player (a person or artificial intelligence that competes in a video game)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:player.

Synonyms

• (electronic device): tocador, leitor
• (video game player): jogador