English Explanatory Dictionary

direct

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Proceeding without deviation or interruption.
  2. Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.
  3. Straightforward; sincere.
  4. Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
  5. In the line of descent; not collateral.
  6. In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; said of the motion of a celestial body.
  7. Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates.
  8. Having a single flight number.
  9. Not employing the law of the excluded middle or argument by contradiction.
adv
  1. Directly.
verb
  1. To manage, control, steer.
  2. To aim (something) at (something else).
  3. To point out to or show (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way; to refer.
  4. To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.
  5. To address (a letter) to a particular person or place.

Pronunciation

/daɪˈɹɛkt/ /dɪˈɹɛkt/ /dəˈɹɛkt/ [daɪ̯əˈɹɛkt] En-us-direct.ogg /dɑɪˈɹekt/ /dɪˈɹekt/ /dəˈɹekt/

Word forms

direct more direct most direct directs directing directed

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dīrēctus, perfect passive participle of dīrigō (“straighten, direct”), from dis- (“asunder, in pieces, apart, in two”) + regō (“make straight, rule”). Compare dress. Doublet of derecho. For the meaning development compare with Russian напра́вить (naprávitʹ, “to direct, to turn, to aim, to level, to point”), отпра́вить (otprávitʹ, “to send, to dispatch, to forward”) connected with пра́вить (právitʹ, “to govern, to rule, to drive, to steer”).

Synonyms

patent univocal immediate explicit point

Antonyms

indirect

Related words

adroit direction directly director dirge dirigible dress

Derived words

direct access direct action direct activist direct air capture direct bank direct broadcast satellite direct buffer direct case direct cinema direct client contact direct cost direct coupling direct cremation direct current direct cut direct debit direct democracy direct deposit direct descendant direct discourse direct drive direct election direct evidence direct exam direct examination direct fire direct flight direct free kick direct grant grammar school direct initiative direct intent direct-inverse marking direct inward dialing direct limit direct mail direct marketing direct maternal death direct message directness direct object direct orange direct primary direct product direct provision direct question direct quote direct red card direct registering direct repeat direct report direct response direct rule direct selling direct speech direct sum direct system direct tax direct-to-cell direct-to-cellphone direct-to-cellular
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