director

Forms

dīrēctor m (genitive dīrēctōris, feminine dīrēctrīx); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dīrigō (“to direct, guide”), with the agent suffix -tor, formed on the participle dīrēctus.^[2][1][3] It is the source, through French directeur, of Italian direttore.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in the Latin translation of Irenaeus, where it means a ruler or guide.^[2][3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it means “guide, ruler”, and in the Notitia dignitatum it is a military term, a unit of dīrēctōrēs with its prefect.^[2] Medieval writers use it for a leader or guide (also of God), a master or teacher, and an envoy;^[7] British writers for a guide and overseer, as of monastic building works.^[8] Ecclesiastical Latin has it for a director.^[9]

Timeline

• 4th century AD? – The Latin Irenaeus uses it of a ruler.^[2][6]
• 1465 – A monastic register records monks appointing masters as dīrēctōrēs of an election.^[8]
• 1549 – A Scottish council has operum dīrēctōrēs, overseers of the works.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A guide, ruler, leader.^[2][3][5]
2. (military, Late Latin) A member of a unit named dīrēctōrēs.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A master, teacher; an overseer, director.^[7][8][9]
4. (Medieval Latin) An envoy, messenger.^[7]

Related words

• rēctor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson