author

author
\ \ [14] Latin auctor originally meant ‘creator, originator’; it came from auct-, the past participial stem of augēre, which as well as ‘increase’ (as in English augment) meant ‘originate’. But it also developed the specific sense ‘creator of a text, writer’, and brought both these meanings with it into English via Old French autor. Forms with -th- began to appear in the mid 16th century (from French), and originally the-th- was just a spelling variant of -t-, but eventually it affected the pronunciation.
\ \ While the ‘writing’ sense has largely taken over author, authority [13] (ultimately from Latin auctōritās) and its derivatives authoritative and authorize have developed along the lines of the creator’s power to command or make decisions.
\ \ Cf.AUCTION, AUGMENT

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • author — I (originator) noun architect, auctor, begetter, causer, composer, contriver, creator, deviser, discoverer, effecter, fabricator, founder, generator, inaugurator, initiator, innovater, institutor, introducer, inventor, maker, manufacturer,… …   Law dictionary

  • author — Ⅰ. author UK US /ˈɔːθər/ noun [C] ► the writer of a book, article, etc.: »He is a best selling author. »The author of the report said his findings were very worrying. ► a person who begins or creates something: »The authors of the proposal want… …   Financial and business terms

  • author — 1. noun. An author is a male or a female writer; authoress is widely regarded as depreciatory or even offensive. when used by men, although women writers still use it occasionally of themselves • (The authoress would like to dedicate this story… …   Modern English usage

  • author — [ô′thər] n. [ME autour < OFr autor < L auctor, enlarger, author < augere, to increase: see WAX2] 1. a person who makes or originates something; creator; originator [“author of liberty”] 2. a writer of a book, article, etc.; often specif …   English World dictionary

  • Author — Au thor ([add] th[ e]r), n. [OE. authour, autour, OF. autor, F. auteur, fr. L. auctor, sometimes, but erroneously, written autor or author, fr. augere to increase, to produce. See {Auction}, n.] 1. The beginner, former, or first mover of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Author — Au thor ([add] th[ e]r), v. t. 1. To occasion; to originate. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Such an overthrow . . . I have authored. Chapman. [1913 Webster] 2. To tell; to say; to declare. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] More of him I dare not author. Massinger.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • author — ► NOUN 1) a writer of a book or article. 2) a person who originates a plan or idea. ► VERB ▪ be the author of. DERIVATIVES authoress noun authorial adjective authorship noun …   English terms dictionary

  • author — 1 *maker, creator 2 *writer, composer …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • author — [n] composer of written work biographer, columnist, composer, creator, essayist, ghost, ghostwriter, ink slinger*, journalist, originator, playwright, poet, producer, prose writer, reporter, scribbler*, scribe, scripter, word slinger*, wordsmith …   New thesaurus

  • Author — Authorship redirects here. For the use in academia, see Academic authorship. For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). An author is broadly defined as the person who originates or gives existence to anything and that authorship determines… …   Wikipedia

  • author — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun ADJECTIVE ▪ best selling ▪ prolific ▪ famous, well known ▪ published ▪ Her ambition was to become a published …   Collocations dictionary

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