actoractor

Actor comes from Middle English actour, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French actor and their source, Latin āctor ‘doer’, from agō ‘to do’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-¹reconstructed
2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti¹‘to be driving’reconstructed
3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō¹‘to drive’reconstructed
4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō¹‘to do’
5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāctus¹
6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāctor¹‘doer’
7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500actour¹‘an actor’
8. Englishearliest quotation 1769actor¹

1. ¹ Wiktionary, English actor
2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1769, William Blackstone: “A man may be principal in an offence in…”.