Bylines

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A line of text that states the name of the author in articles or essays serves to attribute the work to the writer
2. A phrase that appears at the start of a piece of writing to credit its creator; a textual note that names the author of a published work; an identifier that marks the individual responsible for composing an article or story
3. A line in a printed or digital piece that identifies who wrote the article or story

Etymology: A byline is built from two plain English words, and the "by" is the more surprising part. Here it means "secondary" or "incidental," the same sense found in bylaw, byway and byproduct. A bylaw was originally a local rule, a regulation of a town or village rather than the main law of the land, and a byproduct is made alongside the main product. The "by" marks something that sits beside the main thing. The "line" comes from Latin "linea," meaning a thread or cord, which passed into English through Old French "ligne." The compound likely began as a term for a secondary line of text, such as a note set beside the main matter, and it was later applied to the line naming the writer of a story. That placement is still the point: the author's name sits alongside the article rather than inside it.

Synonyms: credits, headlines