actor

¹

[ak-ter]

noun

1. a person who acts in stage plays, motion pictures, television broadcasts, etc.

2. a person who does something; participant.

Actor

²

[ak-ter]

noun

Classical Mythology.

1. a brother of King Augeas, sometimes believed to be the father, by Molione, of Eurytus and Cteatus.

actor

/ ˈæktə /

noun

1. a person who acts in a play, film, broadcast, etc

2. informal,  a person who puts on a false manner in order to deceive others (often in the phrase bad actor )

Usage

The term actor is almost universally used nowadays to refer to people of either gender who act

Other Word Forms

• nonactor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of actor¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin āctor, equivalent to āg- ( act ) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

Three actors who appear in the game - Ben Starr, Charlie Cox and Jennifer English - are nominated for best performance, and the game is also up for the best narrative prize.

Read more on BBC

A year later, he took the lead actor trophy for “The Color of Money,” which, yes, co-starred Cruise.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Instead, it’s time to look at how male loneliness has been monetized by all manner of seedy actors who have every incentive to discourage men from making changes to improve their lives.

Read more on Salon

“I thought I was going insane,” one woman posted on a Topanga Facebook group after catching sight of the hairy quartet in this bohemian enclave of actors, musicians and other artsy types.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Miles Caton, actor: The first time I got the script, they prompted it as a 19-year-old sharecropper who’s a musician, and he would have been Sam Cooke if it was 20 years later.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• artist 
• character 
• clown 
• comedian 
• entertainer 
• performer www.thesaurus.com
• player 
• star 
• villain