actress

English

Alternative forms

• actoress (nonstandard)

Etymology

From actor +‎ -ess. Probably formed independently of Middle French actrice.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæk.tɹɪs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æktɹɪs

Noun

actress (plural actresses, masculine actor)

1. A female who performs on the stage or in films.
   • 1972, Neil Young (lyrics and music), “A Man Needs a Maid”, in Harvest:

     A while ago somewhere I don't know when / I was watchin' a movie with a friend / I fell in love with the actress / She was playin' a part that I could understand

   • 2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 88:

     "I'm an actress -- actor, as we have to say these days."

   • 2011 January 27, “Not going quietly”, in The Economist:

     Court documents appear to show that Ian Edmondson, a senior News of the World journalist, had authorised Mr Mulcaire to hack phones belonging to Sienna Miller, an actress.

2. (now rare) A female doer or "actor" (in a general sense).
   • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society, published 1985, page 290:

     My mental anguish, and the dreadful scenes in which I had been an actress, advanced the period of my labour.

Usage notes

• Actor may also be used to refer to a female performer.

Synonyms

• actorine (rare, archaic)
• actrice (obsolete, rare)

Derived terms

Related terms

• actrix

Descendants

• → Cebuano: aktres
• → Tagalog: aktres

Translations

References

• “actress”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “actress”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Casters, casters, recasts, scarest

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaktrəs/

Noun

actress (plural actresses)

1. actress

References

• Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.