Direct

How to spell direct

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce direct

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does direct mean?

1. verbTo guide, manage, or instruct something or someone towards a goal.
2. adjectiveGoing straight from one point to another, without anything in between.

Direct in a sentence

• verb

  The manager will direct the new staff during their first week.

• adjective

  The airline added a direct flight from the city to Tokyo.

• verb

  Police were on hand to direct traffic away from the flooded road.

• adjective

  There is no direct route between the two villages.

Where does direct come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb dirigere, meaning 'to set straight, to arrange, or to guide', which combined the prefix dis- in the sense of 'apart' with regere, 'to lead straight or to rule'. The same regere root sits inside a whole family of familiar English words, including correct, erect, rectangle, and region, all of which carry an idea of straightness or keeping in line. English adopted direct from the Latin past participle directus, 'made straight', during the late 1300s, partly through the influence of Old French. Its earliest English uses leaned on the literal idea of a straight, unbroken line, and from there the meaning naturally widened to guiding people, addressing letters, and managing affairs. Because the spelling preserves the rect root cleanly, with no silent letters or doubling, it stays one of the more transparent members of its Latin family.

How the word is built

• di- (apart, from dis-)
• rect (from regere: to guide, to keep straight)
• (no suffix)