author

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to be the author of

   I authored the play.

2. 2
   noun

   The originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition; or, one of the creators of a collaborative work.

   The copyright of any original writing belongs initially and properly to its author.

3. 3
   noun

   The initial owner of the copyright to a work, especially a work made for hire or a work of corporate authorship.

   The author named on the copyright registration for the Android robot is Google Inc.

4. 4
   noun

   Principal; the primary participant in a crime.

   We hear […]of fratricidal murders, and stern reprisals on their authors.

5. 5
   noun

   One's authority for something: an informant.

   Let me inform you en passant, Ladies, that those Villains the Heathens, as my Authors tell me, (and I thought it wou'd^([sic]) not be amiss to communicate such a nice Observation to this House) used to call our Saviour Chrestus, and not Christus, by way of Contempt and Derision […]

6. 6
   noun

   The creator or cause of anything.

   The other, standing nearly head-on toward the hunters, had not proved so good a mark, and though every spear struck not one entered the great heart. For a moment the huge bull stood trumpeting in rage and pain, casting about with its little eyes for the author of its hurt.

7. 7
   noun

   someone who originates or causes or initiates something

8. 8
   noun

   writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)

Etymology

From Middle English auctour, from Anglo-Norman autour, from Old French autor, from Latin auctor, from augeō (“to increase, originate”). The h, also found in Middle French autheur, is unetymological as there is no h in the original Latin spelling. The OED attributes the h to contamination by authentic. Doublet of auteur.