directo

Forms

directo (feminine directa, masculine plural directos, feminine plural directas)^[1] Documents of the 16th century from the Americas also write direto, in the legal phrase señorío útil e direto.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dīrēctus (“straight; directed”), the past participle of dīrigō (“to align, steer, direct”).^[3][4][1] It is the learned doublet of derecho, the inherited outcome of the participle's popular form Vulgar Latin dērēctus.^[5][6][1] The Romance languages continue that popular form in Portuguese direito, Catalan dret, French droit and Italian diritto, where it mostly replaced Latin dexter.^[7]

The Latin verb is a compound of regō (“to direct, guide, govern”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to stretch, direct”).^[8][4] The Diccionario de Autoridades already called the word “a purely Latin word”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the learned doublet to 1555, but the word is already in the astrological prose of Alfonso X: a work of 1254 calls the signs from the beginning of Cancer to the end of Sagittarius directos, and a slightly later one tells the reader to engrave a figure when Mars es directo, moving in its direct course.^[5][10][11] Vox puts the borrowing as early as the 12th century.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word was at home in legal language, in señorío directo, the direct ownership of land as opposed to its use, and in por vía directa ni indirecta, recorded in the ordinances of the Chancillería of Granada of 1551.^[2][9] The Diccionario de Autoridades gives “straight, in a straight line”, “plain, without a turn of phrase or allusion”, and technical senses in optics and astronomy.^[9] The Academy's dictionary of 1884 adds the sense “going from one place to another without stopping”, as in tren directo, and the figurative “aimed straight at a goal”.^[13]

Broadcasting gave the phrase en directo, “live”, which the 2001 Academy dictionary records, and the nouns for a live broadcast or performance, a straight punch in boxing and, in the feminine, a vehicle's top gear, as in meter la directa.^[14][3] In El Salvador directo is said of a person who is mad or drugged, and in the Dominican Republic of one who has diarrhoea.^[15][16]

Timeline

• 1254 – first record, in the astrological prose of Alfonso X.^[10][11]
• 1535 – the legal phrase direto ny yndireto in Lima, the first record from the Americas.^[2]
• 1551 – por vía directa ni indirecta in the ordinances of the Chancillería of Granada.^[9]
• 1555 – Corominas's date for the learned doublet of derecho.^[5]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades calls it a purely Latin word.^[9]
• 1884 – the Academy adds “without stopping” (tren directo).^[13]
• 2001 – the Academy records en directo for live broadcasts.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. straight, in a straight line.^[3][1]
2. Going from one place to another without stopping at the points between: un vuelo directo a Lima.^[3][17]
3. Aimed straight at a goal, without intermediaries: una crítica directa.^[3][17]
4. Of a person or way of speaking: frank, blunt.^[1][12]
5. (El Salvador, colloquial) Mad or drugged.^[15][1]
6. (Dominican Republic) Suffering from diarrhoea.^[16]

Noun

1. A way of broadcasting on radio, television or online at the same time as the event takes place; such a broadcast, a live stream.^[3][1]
2. A live performance: El último directo del grupo llenó el estadio.^[3]
3. (boxing) A straight punch.^[3]
4. (feminine, la directa) The gear of a vehicle that couples the engine shaft directly to the transmission shaft, the top gear.^[3]

Word family

• directamente

Related words

• director
• directorio
• dirigir
• indirecto
• derecho
• Latin dīrēctus

Usage notes

En directo means “live” of a broadcast or performance; colloquial meter or poner la directa is to throw oneself into something with speed and determination.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. dereto
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. directo
4. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 233
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. derecho
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 2276
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. dīrēctus
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 293
10. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. directo
11. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. directo
12. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. directo
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 390
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. directo
15. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. directo
16. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. directo
17. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. directo