directorial

Etymology

It is from Late Latin directorius (“that directs”) with the English suffix -al;^[2][3][4][5] the Latin adjective is recorded from the 5th century and is formed from dīrēctus, the past participle of dīrigō (“to direct”), with the suffix -ōrius.^[2] Etymonline takes it instead as formed from director with -ial.^[6] The OED compares French directorial, recorded in French from 1832.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the instructions for public or private worship, or to a directory containing them: 1669, in H. Davis's De Jure Uniformitatis Ecclesiasticæ, a sense now obsolete.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED revised the entry in 2025, adding the church sense of 1669 and moving the general sense, relating to a person who instructs, governs or manages, back to 1697; the 1989 edition began with 1770.^[2][7] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster also date the word to 1770,^[6][3] and Dictionary.com to 1760–70.^[5] From 1795 it was used of a governing directorate, above all the Directory that ruled revolutionary France from 1795 to 1799, a sense now historical.^[2] In the 19th century it was applied to those directing musicians and performers (from 1833), and then to the direction of plays and films, now its most common use.^[2][7][3]

Timeline

• 1669 – of the instructions for worship, or a directory of them (obsolete).^[2]
• 1697 – of a person who governs or manages, or of this activity.^[2]
• 1795 – of a directorate, especially the French Directory of 1795–99.^[2]
• 1833 – of the direction of musicians or performers, and later of plays and films.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a director, especially the director of a film or play, or to the work of directing: her directorial debut.^[3][8][2]
2. Serving to direct; directive.^[3][8]
3. Of or relating to a directorate or board of directors, or to the French Directory of 1795–99.^[3][2]

Word family

• directorially

Related words

• director
• directory
• direct
• directive
• directorate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin