aktor

Aktor is the term used in several languages to refer to a person who acts in performances, film, television, or other media. In many cases it denotes the professional occupation of acting, including stage actors and screen actors. The word appears in languages such as Indonesian, Malay, Polish, and Turkish (with local orthographic variants), and it is often used in media, education, and industry contexts to describe performers.

Language variants and gender forms vary by region. In Indonesian and Malay, aktor typically refers to a male actor, while aktor perempuan is sometimes used in combinations or aktris is used for female actors. In Polish, the standard forms are aktor for a male actor and aktorka for a female actor. Turkish uses aktör (often written with an umlaut as aktör), a gender-neutral term for a person who acts, with similar usage to the English word actor.

Etymology traces the word to Latin actorius, from actus meaning “done” or “a thing done,” and to the French acteur, which passed into many European languages along with the concept of a performer. The English term actor shares this lineage, and the word’s cognates appear in several other languages in closely related forms.

As a cultural and professional category, aktor refers to individuals who study, train, and perform according to the conventions of theatre, cinema, or television. Acting as a craft encompasses technique, interpretation, and collaboration across productions, with recognition often awarded through awards and unions within national entertainment industries.