directe

Forms

dīrēctē (comparative dīrēctius, superlative dīrēctissimē)^[1] The spelling dērēctē also occurs.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dīrēctus (“straight”) + -ē,^[2] the participle of dīrigō (“to align, direct”).^[2][3] De Vaan lists ⟨dērigere⟩ “to align, steer, direct”, replaced by ⟨dīrigere⟩ in the 4th century AD, among the compounds of regō (“to direct, guide”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *reg-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-e/o- (“to stretch, direct”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Cicero,^[2][3] who in the Partitiones oratoriae uses it of words said in their straightforward order, as against the same words with the order reversed.^[2][5] In the Academica he has the comparative directius of steering a straighter course.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Caesar has directe ad perpendiculum, “straight down, perpendicularly”,^[6][7] and the Vulgate says in the Book of Wisdom that bolts of lightning will go straight to their mark: ibunt directe emissiones fulgurum.^[6]

In Medieval Latin it also meant upright, diametrically opposed, directly without anything in between, continually and perhaps expressly.^[8] Hungarian charters use it in boundary descriptions, for a line running straight to a landmark,^[9] and Czech and Polish sources oppose it to indirecte.^[10][11] In Thomas Aquinas it describes what goes straight to its goal, the opposite of indirecte and oblique.^[12]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of words in their natural order.^[2][3]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar writes directe ad perpendiculum, “perpendicularly”.^[6][7][3]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of lightning bolts going straight.^[6][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In a straight line, straight;^[2][6][7] directe ad perpendiculum, perpendicularly.^[2][6][7]
2. In the natural or straightforward order (of words).^[2][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) Upright.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) Directly, without an intermediary; opposed to indirecte.^[8][9][10]
5. (Medieval Latin) Diametrically, in direct opposition.^[8]
6. (Medieval Latin) Plainly, clearly.^[9][10]

Related words

• dīrēctus
• dīrigō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
10. ^ a b c Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
11. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
12. ^ Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh