direct

Pronunciation

• IPA: /daɪˈrekt/, /dɪˈrekt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English directen,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin dīrēctus (“straight”),^[2][3] the past participle of dīrigō (“I set straight, arrange, guide”),^[3][2] from dis- “apart” and regō (“I direct, guide, keep straight”),^[3][2] which Etymonline takes to Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in a straight line”).^[3] The adjective is from Old French direct and Latin dīrēctus.^[3][2] It is a doublet of dress, and compare address.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, “to address (a letter or words) straight to someone”: about 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde,^[2] the late 14th century;^[3] the adjective, “straight”, is from 1391, in Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

“To point or aim in a straight line toward” is from about 1400,^[3] and “to govern, regulate, prescribe the course of” from the early 15th century.^[3] “To order, ordain” is from the 1650s.^[3] Writing the destination on a letter is from 1588.^[4] The adjective's sense “plain, unambiguous” is from the 1580s.^[3] Of plays and films, “to supervise and control the making of”, the verb is attested from 1913.^[3] Direction is from about 1385,^[2] and directive from about 1454.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1385 – verb, to address, and direction.^[2]
• 1391 – adjective, straight.^[2][4]
• c. 1400 – to aim.^[3]
• early 15th century – to govern, regulate.^[3]
• 1580s – plain, unambiguous.^[3]
• 1650s – to order.^[3]
• 1913 – to direct a play or film.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To manage, control or guide.
2. To give an order to; to instruct.
3. To show someone the way.
4. To aim or point toward something.
5. To address (remarks or a letter) to someone.
6. To supervise the making of (a film or play).

Adjective

1. Going straight from one place to another without stopping or turning.
2. Without anything or anyone in between: direct contact.
3. Saying what one means plainly; frank.
4. Exact or absolute: the direct opposite.

Adverb

1. Straight; without stopping: fly direct to Rome.

Word family

• directable
• directness
• semidirect
• directrix
• codirect
• misdirect
• redirect
• direct action

Related words

• adroit
• direction
• directly
• director
• dirge
• dirigible
• dress
• directory
• directive
• address
• rector
• rule
• regal

Usage notes

In west Somerset and Devon dialect direct was a noun meaning practical sense that can be relied on.^[5]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)