I. au ‧ thor 1 W2 AC /ˈɔːθə $ ˈɒːθər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old North French ; Origin: auctour , from Latin auctor 'maker, writer' , from augere ; ⇨ ↑ augment ]
1 . someone who has written a book SYN writer :
Nothomb is a Belgian author.
author of
He was the author of two books on China.
It’s clear that the author is a woman.
2 . formal the person who starts a plan or idea SYN initiator
author of
the author of the state reforms
—authorial /ɔːˈθɔːriəl $ ɒː-/ adjective [only before noun]
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ a famous/well-known author
The famous author Henry James lived here.
▪ a best-selling author
Ian McEwan is a best-selling author.
▪ a children’s author
the children’s author Roald Dahl
▪ your favourite author
Who’s your favourite author?
▪ a prolific author (=one who writes many books)
She is also a prolific author with more than 70 books published.
▪ a contributing author (=someone who writes articles for a newspaper or magazine, or who writes part of a book, report etc)
Ms Gomez was a contributing author to Chapter 1 of the WG II Report.
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THESAURUS
▪ writer someone who writes books, stories, or articles in as a job:
Greene was one of the finest writers of his generation.
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a writer for the Independent on Sunday magazine
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I always wanted to be a writer.
▪ author someone who writes books, especially works of literature, or someone who wrote a particular book:
Among the guests was the author Salman Rushdie.
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The author will be signing copies of his book.
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He was the author of ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’.
▪ novelist someone who writes books about imaginary people or events:
Charles Dickens was one of the greatest 19th century novelists.
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the romantic novelist Barbara Cartland
▪ poet someone who writes poems:
a class studying the works of modern American poets
▪ playwright someone who writes plays:
Shakespeare was the greatest playwright in English history.
▪ dramatist someone who writes plays - used especially in literary writing, about playwrights in the past:
the great French dramatist, Moliere
▪ scriptwriter ( also screenwriter ) someone who writes plays for films or television:
Three or four scriptwriters work on the show.
▪ blogger someone who regularly writes about a particular subject on their own website:
a travel blogger
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a blogger who writes about the differences between American and British English
II. author 2 AC BrE AmE verb [transitive]
to be the writer of a book, report etc