direct
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
direct
- /daɪˈɹɛkt/ Canada, US, UK
- /dɪˈɹɛkt/ Canada, US, UK
- /dəˈɹɛkt/ Canada, US, UK
- [daɪ̯əˈɹɛkt] Canada, US, UK
- /dɑeˈɹekt/ Australia
- /dɪˈɹekt/ Australia
- /dəˈɹekt/ New Zealand
Rhymes with -ɛkt
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin dīrēctus, perfect passive participle of dīrigō (“straighten, direct”), from dis- (“asunder, in pieces, apart, in two”) + regō (“make straight, rule”). Compare dress. Doublet of derecho.
For the meaning development compare with Russian напра́вить (naprávitʹ, “to direct, to turn, to aim, to level, to point”), отпра́вить (otprávitʹ, “to send, to dispatch, to forward”) connected with пра́вить (právitʹ, “to govern, to rule, to drive, to steer”).
adjective more direct · most direct
- Proceeding without deviation or interruption.
- Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end. the most direct route between two buildings
- Straightforward; sincere. Be even and direct with me.
- Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous. He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
- In the line of descent; not collateral. a descendant in the direct line
- In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; said of the motion of a celestial body.
- Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates. direct nomination; direct legislation
- Having a single flight number.
- Not employing the law of the excluded middle or argument by contradiction.
adverb more direct · most direct
- Directly. The walls, which are fixed direct into the ground without a plinth, are made of wattle and plastered with a thin lair of mud or cowdung.
verb directs · directing · directed
- To manage, control, steer. to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army
- To aim (something) at (something else). They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.
- To point out to or show (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way; to refer. He directed me to the left-hand road.
- To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order. She directed them to leave immediately.
- To address (a letter) to a particular person or place. [A]s I do not know where I shall be, and shall have my letters sent after me as soon as I do know, continue to direct hither.
