narrator

American  

[nar-ey-ter, na-rey‑, nar-uh‑] / ˈnær eɪ tər, næˈreɪ‑, ˈnær ə‑ /

Or narrater

noun

1. a person who gives an account or tells the story of events, experiences, etc.

2. a person who adds spoken commentary to a film, television program, slide show, etc.

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narrator British  

/ nəˈreɪtə /

noun

1. a person who tells a story or gives an account of something

2. a person who speaks in accompaniment of a film, television programme, etc

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narrator Cultural  

1. A person who tells a story; in literature, the voice that an author takes on to tell a story. This voice can have a personality quite different from the author's. For example, in his story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe makes his narrator a raving lunatic.

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Etymology

Origin of narrator

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin narrātor “narrator, historian” narrate ( def. ), -or ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Mahan’s parents “taught him the difference between nice to have and need to have,” a narrator says in one of the ads.

From Los Angeles Times

I, as your narrator, am already feeling the coming separation when we will part company.

From Literature

The Season 8 finale saw protagonist, narrator and inveterate daydreamer J.D.

From Los Angeles Times

She sings from the perspective of someone who lives deeply inside her own mind; other characters are mostly deployed to reveal something about the narrator of her stories.

From The Wall Street Journal

And Kate Bush’s immortal 1978 single, with its swooping, operatic drama, interpretive dance–filled video and ghostly narrator only strengthened the book’s rep as a tale of exquisitely tortured love.

From Salon

Related Words

• author
• chronicler
• novelist
• writer