Etymologically
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direct

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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

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)