directus Latin · revision 33009

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 450 BC, Twelve Tables|origins=ine-pro *h₃reǵ-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dīrēctus''' (feminine dīrēcta, neuter dīrēctum, comparative dīrēctior); first/second-declension adjective^(OLD 2012)

+ It is also spelled ''dērēctus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Used as an adjective, it is the perfect participle [[der|la|dīrigō|t=to set straight, direct]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) That verb is [[m|la|dis-]] with [[m|la|regō|t=to direct]], which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*reg-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*h₃reǵ-|t=to stretch, direct]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from the Twelve Tables.^(Köbler 2010) Varro speaks of straight rather than projecting teeth.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is not oblique or curved, straight, as Cicero's olive trees in a straight row; moving straight ahead; and ''in dīrēctum'', in a straight line, as in Livy.^(OLD 2012) It is vertical or upright, standing at right angles, as Caesar's upright beams, and sheer, as Cicero's Henna, cut off on every side.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is straightforward, direct, undisguised, and of a person forthright.^(OLD 2012) In law it is direct, not depending on an intervening procedure: Julian, Ulpian and Gaius speak of direct grants of freedom and of the ''dīrēcta āctiō'', founded on the strict terms of the law.^(OLD 2012) In Medieval Latin it is direct, immediate; right, righteous; and rightful, and the neuter ''dīrēctum'' is a right.^(Niermeyer 1976) Church Latin glosses it direct, guiding, straight, proper.^(Stelten 1995) Wiktionary reconstructs a Proto-Romance ''*dērēctus'' “straight” from the variant.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of straight teeth.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a straight row and of sheer cliffs.^(OLD 2012)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of upright beams.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, in a straight line.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|straight|alt=Straight]], not oblique; moving straight ahead;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''in dīrēctum'': in a straight line.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|vertical|alt=Vertical]], upright; sheer.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Straightforward, [[m|en|direct]], undisguised; forthright.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(law)'' Direct, absolute;^(OLD 2012) ''dīrēcta āctiō'': an action on the strict terms of the law.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Immediate; right, righteous, rightful.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dirigo|alt=dīrigō]]

+ * [[rego|alt=regō]]

+ * [[rectus|alt=rēctus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}