autrice

Autrice is the feminine form of the Italian noun autore, used to denote a female author or creator. It is employed across media, including literature, journalism, cinema, and music, to identify a woman who writes or creates a work. The term is typically used whenever gender specification is relevant or desired.

Autrice derives from Latin auctor, through the Italian autore. The masculine form is autore; the feminine form is autrice, with the plural autrici. Another common feminine term is scrittrice, which emphasizes writing; autrice and scrittrice can overlap in meaning, but autrice is specifically linked to authorship across media.

In contemporary Italian, autrice is widely accepted and used in bibliographies, critical writing, film credits, interviews, and public discourse. It signals the gender of the author, complementing the masculine autore. In formal contexts, both forms may be used to refer to a person of any gender (autori e autrici), or a neutral construction may be preferred.

See also Autore, scrittrice, and gendered language in Italian.