What does "authorship" mean?

The quality or state of being an author; the function or dignity of an author.

Authorship

Common synonyms include: writing, artistry, authorcraft, authorhood, automatic writing, beginning.

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The quality or state of being an author; the function or dignity of an author. countable, uncountable
2
the act of initiating a new idea or theory or writing wordnet
3
The source; the origin; the origination. countable, uncountable
"We are unaware of the authorship of this book."
4
the act of creating written works wordnet

"This student claimed authorship of an essay she clearly did not write."

From author + -ship.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.