publisher

American  

[puhb-li-sher] / ˈpʌb lɪ ʃər /

noun

• publishers
  plural

1. a person or company whose business is the publishing of books, periodicals, engravings, computer software, etc.

2. the business head of a newspaper organization or publishing house, commonly the owner or the representative of the owner.

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publisher British  

/ ˈpʌblɪʃə /

noun

1. a company or person engaged in publishing periodicals, books, music, etc

2. the proprietor of a newspaper or his representative

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• publishers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of publisher

1425–75; late Middle English: one who proclaims publicly; see publish, -er ¹

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Explanation

A builder builds. A dancer dances. A publisher publishes — which is to say, oversees the printing, editing and, most importantly, the selling of books, magazines, websites, and even music. It's a matter of debate who is more important at a magazine, the editor or the publisher, but I'm sure you could get convincing arguments for either. The editor is in charge of content, while the publisher runs the business side of things and often owns the operation, too. The publisher of a newspaper is often also the owner. When a writer wants to get their book published — printed and sold — they send it to a publishing house, which may become the book's publisher.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

publisher publishers

The Edinburgh-based publisher George Thomson hired Beethoven in 1809 to create salon arrangements of Scottish folk songs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Bloomberg has an agreement with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, to distribute news, and the companies’ newswires compete.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Nigerian publisher Modupe Daramola said it was necessary to discuss how "these AI allegations are targeting Black and African writers" and how they were often disproportionately scrutinised.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

The people that get money are the writers and the publisher.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

It made money for the publisher, and although Charles did not receive any income from it, he was proud of the book.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

"We want to create a comprehensive, transparent, reliable framework that publishers and authors can fall back on," Esme Dennys, the initiative's co-founder, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

While publishers “exhibited a strong preference for. . . what might be called ‘highbrow works,’ ” Ms. Manning observes, the favorites among enlisted men ran more to “westerns, mysteries, stories of adventure and page-turning fiction.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

The BBC understands Penguin, the publishers of Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, will be amending this one point in future editions of the book.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

In July, a Munich court ruled against Suno in a case brought by GEMA, which collects royalties for German songwriters and publishers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

“Going around, querying publishers, trying to find an agent. I haven’t done it, and I am not interested in doing it.”

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

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Related Words

• journalist
• magazine
• media
• newsperson
• reporter
• writer

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