Director

How to spell director

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce director

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does director mean?

1. nounA person who manages, controls, or supervises an organisation, department, or activity.

Director in a sentence

• The marketing director approved the new advertising budget.

• The film director spent months planning each scene.

Where does director come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word reaches English from the Latin director, an agent noun built on the verb dirigere, meaning 'to set straight, guide, or direct'. That verb was formed from the prefix dis- ('apart') and regere ('to keep straight, to rule or guide'), so the literal idea was guiding something into a straight line or proper course. The same regere root sits behind a large family of English words, including 'regent', 'correct', and 'region', which all share the notion of ruling or keeping straight. English adopted director in the fifteenth century, first for someone who manages or controls an undertaking, and the sense later widened to cover company boards, films, and orchestras. The spelling trap is the final -or rather than -er, a feature it inherited directly from its Latin agent-noun ending.

How the word is built

• di- (apart/asunder)
• rect (from regere: to guide, to keep straight)
• -or (agent suffix: one who does)