'narrator' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'nārrātor', where 'nārrāre' meant 'to tell' or 'to relate'.

'nārrātor' entered English usage via Late Latin and Middle French/Medieval scholarly use, appearing in Early Modern English as 'narrator' and developing into the modern English noun 'narrator'.

Initially it meant 'one who tells' (in the straightforward sense of relating events); over time it retained that core sense but also came to denote specific narrative roles (e.g., unreliable narrator, omniscient narrator) in literary theory.