Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Direction
Di-rec′tion
,Noun.
[L.
directio
: cf. F. direction
.] 1.
The act of directing, of aiming, regulating, guiding, or ordering; guidance; management; superintendence; administration;
as, the
. direction
o[GREEK] public affairs or of a bankI do commit his youth
To your
To your
direction
. Shakespeare
All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
ll chance,
ll chance,
direction
, which thou canst not see. Pope.
2.
That which is imposed by directing; a guiding or authoritative instruction; prescription; order; command;
as, he grave
. directions
to the servantsThe princes digged the well . . . by the
direction
of the law giver. Numb. xxi. 18.
3.
The name and residence of a person to whom any thing is sent, written upon the thing sent; superscription; address;
as, the
. direction
of a letter4.
The line or course upon which anything is moving or aimed to move, or in which anything is lying or pointing; aim; line or point of tendency; direct line or course;
as, the ship sailed in a southeasterly
. direction
5.
The body of managers of a corporation or enterprise; board of directors.
Syn. – Administration; guidance; management; superintendence; oversight; government; order; command; guide; clew.
Direction
, Control
, Command
, Order
. These words, as here compared, have reference to the exercise of power over the actions of others. Control is negative, denoting power to restrain; command is positive, implying a right to enforce obedience; directions are commands containing instructions how to act. Order conveys more prominently the idea of authority than the word direction. A shipmaster has the command of his vessel; he gives orders or directions to the seamen as to the mode of sailing it; and exercises a due control over the passengers. Webster 1828 Edition
Direction
DIRECTION
,Noun.
1.
Aim at a certain point; a pointing towards, in a straight line or course; as, the direction of good works to a good end.2.
The line in which a body moves by impulse; course. Matter or body cannot alter the direction of its own motion.3.
A straight line or course. A star appeared int eh direction of a certain tower. The ship sailed in a south-easterly direction.4.
The act of governing; administration; management; guidance; superintendence; as the direction of public affairs; direction of domestic concerns; the direction of a bank.5.
Regularity; adjustment.All chance, direction which thou canst not see.
6.
Order; prescription; either verbal or written; instruction in what manner to proceed. The employer gives directions to his workmen; the physician, to his patient.7.
The superscription of a letter, including the name, title and place of abode of the person for whom it is intended.8.
A body or board of directors.Definition 2024
direction
direction
English
Noun
direction (countable and uncountable, plural directions)
- A theoretical line (physically or mentally) followed from a point of origin or towards a destination.
- Keep going in the same direction.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
- Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,
- Just before Warwick reached Liberty Point, a young woman came down Front Street from the direction of the market-house. When their paths converged, Warwick kept on down Front Street behind her, it having been already his intention to walk in this direction.
- An general trend for future action.
- Guidance, instruction.
- The trombonist looked to the bandleader for direction.
- The work of the director in cinema or theater; the skill of directing a film, play etc.
- The screenplay was good, but the direction was weak.
- (archaic) An address.
- 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society 1985, page 218:
- Her aunt Leonella was still at Cordova, and she knew not her direction.
- 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society 1985, page 218:
Derived terms
Terms derived from direction
Related terms
- direct
- under the direction of
Translations
indication of the point toward which an object is moving
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work of the director (manager)
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work of the director in cinema or theater
path or course of movement
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guidance, instruction
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Statistics
Most common English words before 1923: beneath · conversation · music · #836: direction · o' · eight · modern
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Borrowing from Latin dīrēctiō, dīrēctiōnem.
Pronunciation
Noun
direction f (plural directions)
- (spatial) direction
- (figuratively) direction
- government
- (figuratively) the director of the administration/organisation
- (occasional, figurative) the territory administered by a government