co-author

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   One of two or more people who write a book, article or report together.

   Grammar: Countable: my co-author, her three co-authors.

   Patterns

   • co-author of something
   • co-author with someone

   She is the co-author of a textbook on climate science.

   His co-author wrote the first chapters while he handled the data.

   The paper lists four co-authors from three universities.

2. 2verbtransitive

   To write something together with another person or people.

   Grammar: Takes an object: they co-authored a novel.

   Patterns

   • co-author something with someone

   She co-authored a study on sleep with a colleague in Canada.

   The two friends co-authored a children's book.

   He plans to co-author a report on housing.

Word forms

Common combinations

lead co-author

The lead co-author presented the findings at the conference.

co-author a paper

They co-authored a paper on ocean currents.

co-author of a book

She became the co-author of a cookbook.

sole author versus co-author

He prefers being a co-author to writing alone.

Synonyms and how they differ

collaborator

A collaborator works with others on any project, while a co-author specifically shares credit for a written work.

joint author

Joint author is the more formal, legal phrase and is common in copyright texts.

writing partner

Writing partner is casual and does not always imply that the name appears on the cover.

Opposites

Word family

author noun

the writer of a work

authorship noun

the fact of writing something

coauthor noun

the unhyphenated spelling

Commonly confused: co-author or editor?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “co-author”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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