# auteur

> English word · Noun · IPA /oʊˈtɝ/ · frequency rank #54,626

## Definitions
1. 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 their works.

## Etymology
Borrowed 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”. Doublet of author.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/auteur