Actor

¹

[ak-ter]

noun

Classical Mythology.

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

actor

²

[ak-ter]

noun

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

2. a person who does something; participant.

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

Now an increasingly prominent actor alongside Russia and China, Pyongyang’s focus is on solidifying its nuclear status, shifting away from seeking global attention with a flurry of missile launches.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Amazon has stated, so far convincingly, that its outage wasn’t caused by hackers or other hostile actors.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

I had this vague sense of maybe I could be a comedian, maybe I could be an actor, probably in the back of my head I wondered, “How do you become Bill Murray?”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Along with the lead actor award, “Ray” won for sound mixing.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Elsewhere, the title track makes the surprising decision to use the same phrase as Will Smith in the actor's notorious Oscars outburst.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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