Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A filmmaker, usually a director, who exercises creative control over his or her works and has a strong personal style.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A creative artist, especially a film director, seen as having a specific, recognisable artistic vision, and who is seen as the single or preeminent ‘author’ of his works.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a filmmaker who has a personal style and keeps creative control over his or her works

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French autor, author; see author.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French auteur ("author"). Popularised by François Truffaut in the 1954 essay “Une certaine tendance du cinéma français” (“A certain tendency in French cinema”) in the influential film journal Cahiers du cinéma as the phrase “la politique des Auteurs”.

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