directive

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin dīrēctīvus (“that guides or directs”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} frequent from the 12th century,^[2] from dīrēctus, the past participle of dīrigō (“to set straight, direct”),^[5][3][2] with the suffix -īvus.^[2][7] Merriam-Webster also gives Middle French directif as a source,^[7] and the OED compares the French adjective, recorded from the 14th century, and Italian direttivo.^[2] The noun follows the post-classical Latin noun dīrēctīvum (“direction, guidance”).^[4][2] The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and regō (“to guide, keep straight”),^[3] and is the source of direct.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Guiding or directing: about 1454, as an adjective, in Pecock's Folewer to Donet, of ignorance as the directing cause of a deed.^[6][2] Etymonline glosses the first sense as "pointing out the proper direction".^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the 1580s the adjective also meant having the power to direct,^[3] and in law (1584) advising how something may be done without obliging it.^[2] In the 17th century it described the power of a lodestone to point north and south (1625).^[2] The noun, something that guides, appears in 1517 and is obsolete by the 1650s;^[2] a piece of guidance or a guideline is in the OED from 1639.^[2] The modern sense, an official instruction on how to act, is dated 1902 by Etymonline and Merriam-Webster.^[3][7] In 1906 the adjective was applied to an aerial that sends or receives radio waves mainly in one direction.^[2] From 1957 a directive was also a mandate of the European Economic Community, later the European Union, requiring member states to reach a result by their own laws.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1454 – adjective, guiding, directing.^[6][2]
• 1517 – noun, something that guides (obsolete by 1653).^[2]
• 1584 – in law, advisory.^[2]
• 1625 – of the power of a lodestone to point north.^[2]
• 1639 – noun, a piece of guidance, a guideline.^[2]
• 1902 – an official instruction how to proceed.^[3][7]
• 1906 – of an aerial, directional.^[2]
• 1957 – a mandate of the European Economic Community.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An official instruction or order: Staff received a directive to cut travel costs.
2. (law) A law of the European Union that binds member states to a result while leaving the means to them.

Adjective

1. Serving to direct or guide.
2. Of an aerial or antenna, sending or receiving radio waves mainly in one direction.

Word family

• directivity
• nondirective
• advance directive

Related words

• dirigible
• direct
• direction
• director
• directory

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster