actor
Pluralactors
- 1A person who portrays a character, originally in stage plays and later also in movies or television.
The young actor trained for years before landing his first film role.
Critics praised the actors for their restrained, convincing performances.
UsageUsed for performers of any gender; actress is still common, but many women on stage and screen now call themselves actors.
Note
The stage-and-screen meaning carries a live usage question: whether women are actors too. A character in Peter Corris's Torn Apart (2010) corrects herself, "I'm an actress -- actor, as we have to say these days". That correction captures actor's role as the neutral word for any performer. Ani DiFranco (1991) casts the whole world as actors, playing on the word's other edge, the closeness of acting to pretending.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Peter Corris wrote Torn Apart, first published in 2010. openlibrary.org
- The quoted dialogue contains a character's self-correction from actress to actor. en.wiktionary.org
- The relevant Ani DiFranco song, Anticipate, appeared on Not So Soft in 1991. en.wikipedia.org
- DiFranco's lyric compares everyone to actors and connects this with pretending; the note's description is an interpretation of that lyric. en.wiktionary.org
- 2Any participant in an action, whether a person, group, or thing, that plays a part in carrying it out.
Each actor in the negotiation pursued its own interests.
Political scientists study how different actors shape national policy.
UsageUsually an actor in something (a key actor in the talks); set phrases include state actor and non-state actor.
Similarparticipant, player, party, agent
Note
The broad meaning the Latin "doer" predicts, and the one that survives in public and political writing. In 1852 The Daily Union called Mr. Clay "too prominent an actor in public affairs". Blackstone (1769) used it in criminal law for the absolute perpetrator, as against one who aids and abets. Charlotte Smith's Desmond (1792) says "events to which I have been an actor", but today the preposition is in. Nothing here is pretended.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- The Latin source of actor means doer. en.wiktionary.org
- The Daily Union used the quoted phrase about Mr. Clay in 1852; Wiktionary identifies the issue as 8 February 1852, page 2. en.wiktionary.org
- The relevant fourth volume of William Blackstone's Commentaries was first published in 1769. commons.wikimedia.org
- Blackstone distinguishes the actor or absolute perpetrator from a person present aiding and abetting. avalon.law.yale.edu
- Charlotte Smith wrote Desmond, first published in 1792. en.wikipedia.org
- Desmond contains the quoted wording, including the preposition to. en.wiktionary.org
- 3In grammar, the participant that performs the action expressed by a verb.
In an active sentence, the actor usually appears before the verb.
Linguists distinguish the actor from the entity affected by the verb.
Similaragent
Note
Grammarians use the word for the participant that carries out what the verb describes. The actor is close kin to the agent and stands opposite the entity the action affects. In an active clause it typically lines up with the subject. The term names a role in the event, however, while subject names a position in the sentence. It is useful to keep the two ideas apart.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Actor denotes an action-performing participant, is related to agent, and contrasts with the affected participant. openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au
- In an active clause, the actor typically corresponds to the subject. glossary.sil.org
- Semantic roles describe participation in events and are distinct from grammatical roles such as subject. open.maricopa.edu
Less common meanings
- 4In former legal usage, a person who institutes a lawsuit; a plaintiff or complainant.
Note
A courtroom word for the party who starts the case, now gone from legal English. It stays closest to the Latin root: āctor, "doer", from agō, "to do". The actor is the one who sets the suit in motion, and the defendant is the one who answers it. Modern usage says plaintiff or complainant. Read actor this way only in older legal writing.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Actor historically meant the party who initiates a lawsuit. en.wiktionary.org
- The Latin source is āctor, meaning doer, derived from agō, meaning to do. en.wiktionary.org
- The actor brings the complaint, and the defendant answers it. en.wikisource.org
- 5In former usage, a person who acts on another's behalf; a guardian.
Note
Here the doing is done for someone else: the actor acted on another person's behalf, as a guardian or agent does. The use survives only in older texts, where guardian or representative is what is meant. It should not be read as a performer, nor confused with the old legal plaintiff.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Actor historically meant someone acting for another person, including a guardian. en.wiktionary.org
- 6In former usage, an advocate or proctor who represents a party in civil courts or causes.
Note
A Roman-law title, used in English for the advocate or proctor who pleaded another party's cause in the civil courts. Keep it apart from the old word for a plaintiff. There the actor brings the suit; here the actor argues it on someone's behalf. Both are obsolete, so the distinction matters mainly when reading older legal and ecclesiastical texts.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The advocate or proctor sense is associated with Roman law. en.wiktionary.org
- English actor could designate an advocate or proctor representing another party in civil-law courts. 1215.org
- Actor also meant a plaintiff, a distinct role from the advocate representing a party. 1215.org
- The term occurs in older legal and ecclesiastical terminology. upload.wikimedia.org
- 7In use case analysis, the entity (a person or an external system) that performs a role when interacting with the system under design.
Practice
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Origin
Inherited from Middle English actour, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French actor, and ultimately from Latin āctor ("doer"), from agō ("to do"). It is equivalent to act + -or, and is cognate with Ancient Greek ἄκτωρ (áktōr, "leader").
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- English actor descends from Middle English actour, with Anglo-Norman actor and Middle French actor in its derivation. en.wiktionary.org
- The ultimate Latin source is āctor, meaning doer, from agō, meaning to do. en.wiktionary.org
- Actor is morphologically equivalent to act + -or. en.wiktionary.org
- Actor is cognate with Ancient Greek ἄκτωρ, meaning leader. en.wiktionary.org