actor Copy link Outline I. One who actsII. A performer of plays1. actor (which also denotes a pleader, etc., and should not be used unless it is clear from the context that a stage-actor is meant)2. histrio, ōnis, m. (used of all kinds of theatrical performers3. lūdius and lūdio, ōnis, m. (an inferior kind of dancing player)4. an actor in a tragedy5. an actor in a comedy6. mīmus, f. mīma7. artĭfex scēnĭcus • actor: I. One who acts: actor: a speaker of words and an a. of things, orator verborum actorque rerum, Cic.: v. doer. II. A performer of plays: 1. actor (which also denotes a pleader, etc., and should not be used unless it is clear from the context that a stage-actor is meant): good poets and diligent a.s are wont to be most careful in the last act, poetae boni et a. industrii in extremo actu diligentissimi esse solent, Cic.: a first-rate a., a. summus, Cic.: to tolerate bad a.s on the stage, in theatro malos a. perpeti, Cic.: Hor. Also a. scenicus, Quint. 2. histrio, ōnis, m. (used of all kinds of theatrical performers: v. inf. 5): as to the a. a certain delivery, to the dancer a certain movement is assigned, ut histrioni actio, saltatori motus certus est datus, Cic.: to hiss an a. off the stage, h. exsibilare, explodere, Cic.: a miserable a., pessimus h., Cic.: an a. of tragedies or comedies, comoediarum aut tragoediarum h., Plin. 3. lūdius and lūdio, ōnis, m. (an inferior kind of dancing player): Liv.: Cic. 4. an actor in a tragedy: trăgoedus, m.: the orator needs the voice of a tragic a., vox tragoedorum est requirendus (oratori), Cic.: Hor. 5. an actor in a comedy: cōmoedus, m.: the man who was not even reckoned among the worst of theatrical performers, became the first of comic a.s, qui ne in novissimis erat histrionibus, ad primos venit comoedos, Cic. 6. mīmus, f. mīma: only used of performers in pantomime: Cic.: Ov. 7. artĭfex scēnĭcus: Sen.: Gell.