Author \Au"thor\ ([add]"th[~e]r), n. [OE. authour, autour, OF. autor, F. auteur, fr. L. auctor, sometimes, but erroneously, written autor or author, fr. augere to increase, to produce. See Auction, n.]

1. The beginner, former, or first mover of anything; hence, the efficient cause of a thing; a creator; an originator.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Author \Au"thor\ ([add]"th[~e]r), v. t.

1. To occasion; to originate. [Obs.]

Such an overthrow . . . I have authored. --Chapman.

2. To tell; to say; to declare. [Obs.]

More of him I dare not author. --Massinger.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)