producer

American  

[pruh-doo-ser, -dyoo-] / prəˈdu sər, -ˈdyu- /

noun

1. a person who produces.

2. Economics. a person who creates economic value, or produces goods and services.

3. a person responsible for the financial and administrative aspects of a stage, film, television, or radio production; the person who exercises general supervision of a production and is responsible chiefly for raising money, hiring technicians and artists, etc., required to stage a play, make a motion picture, or the like.

4. British Theater. (formerly) a director of theatrical productions; stage director.

5. an apparatus for making producer gas.

6. Ecology. an organism, as a plant, that is able to produce its own food from inorganic substances.

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producer British  

/ prəˈdjuːsə /

noun

1. a person or thing that produces

2. a person responsible for the artistic direction of a play, including interpretation of the script, preparation of the actors, and overall design

3. a person who organizes the stage production of a play, including the finance, management, etc

4. the person who takes overall administrative responsibility for a film or television programme Compare director

5. the person who supervises the arrangement, recording, and mixing of a record

6. economics a person or business enterprise that generates goods or services for sale Compare consumer

7. chem an apparatus or plant for making producer gas

8. (often plural) ecology an organism, esp a green plant, that builds up its own tissues from simple inorganic compounds See also consumer decomposer

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producer Scientific  

/ prə-do̅o̅′sər /

1. An autotrophic organism that serves as a source of food for other organisms in a food chain. Producers include green plants, which produce food through photosynthesis, and certain bacteria that are capable of converting inorganic substances into food through chemosynthesis.

2. Compare consumer

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Other Word Forms

• nonproducer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of producer

First recorded in 1505–15; produce + -er ¹

Explanation

If you have the chance to travel to Brazil, you might get to visit the largest producer of coffee beans in the world. A producer is a maker or manufacturer of something. Since the 1500s, the word producer has been used to mean "one who produces." In the late 1800s it began to have a second meaning, "someone who finances and supervises a show". A movie producer oversees the making of films in various ways, including raising money, and a record producer does a similar job in the music industry, working with musicians. This kind of producer is more of a supervisor and adviser than the actual maker of the finished product.

Example Sentences

The restrictions highlighted Europe's heavy dependence on rare earths from China, which is the world's top producer of the elements.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

Excluding energy, producer prices were up a softer 1.1% on-month, and 7.6% from a year earlier, the national data agency said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Actor and producer Niko Foster has put his jaw-dropping Nevada mansion on the market for $21.9 million—12 years after work was completed on the extraordinary custom-built “masterpiece.”

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

With the death of the Taylor Tomlinson-hosted panel show “After Midnight,” of which Colbert was an executive producer, the network is out of the late-night business.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

“I’m not so great with speeches. How about Sahil instead? He’s the producer, and this entire thing was his idea anyway!”

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

Related Words

• architect
• contractor
• maker
• manufacturer