coauthor

noun

co·​au·​thor (ˌ)kō-ˈȯ-thər 

variants or co-author

plural coauthors or co-authors

: one who collaborates with another person in authoring a literary or dramatic work, a document, a legislative bill, etc.

coauthors of many books and plays

the coauthors of new legislation

coauthor transitive verb

or co-author

coauthored or co-authored; coauthoring or co-authoring

… he coauthored legislation … requiring the publication on the Internet of the cost of all federal contracts, grants, and congressional "earmarks,"…

—Michael Tomasky

a co-authored book

coauthorship

(ˌ)kō-ˈȯ-thər-ˌship 

noun

or co-authorship

… accepting coauthorship on studies to which they did not significantly contribute.

—Mary Murray

Examples of coauthor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Before starting treatment, people should be aware of this possibility, says Sam West, PhD, a coauthor of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. —Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 9 Jan. 2026

According to details of the settlement, which would be split with my publisher, then split with my coauthor chef Nick Elmi, giving each of us a whopping $750. —Adam Erace, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025

Paper coauthor professor Julia Albright of the University of Tennessee, emphasized the need for caution. —Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2025

Alex Tamkin, the paper’s other coauthor, said that part of the motivation for the study was a desire to prepare the world for the economic upheavals of AI. —Billy Perrigo, Time, 25 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1827, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for coauthor

• author

Kids Definition

coauthor

noun

co·​au·​thor

(ˈ)kō-ˈȯ-thər

: an author who works with another author