Directive

How to spell directive

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce directive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does directive mean?

1. nounAn official or authoritative instruction issued by a person or body in charge.
2. adjectiveServing to guide, instruct, or control the way something is done.

Directive in a sentence

• noun

  The new directive from head office bans personal email on work laptops.

• adjective

  Her directive tone left no doubt about who was running the meeting.

• noun

  Staff were given a clear directive to log every customer complaint.

• adjective

  The manual takes a directive approach, telling readers exactly which steps to follow.

Where does directive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb dirigere, meaning 'to set straight, arrange, or guide', which was formed from the prefix dis- (here meaning 'apart' or 'in different directions') and the verb regere, 'to guide, lead, or rule'. The past participle of dirigere was directus, the same root that gives us 'direct', 'direction', and 'director'. By the time the form 'directive' appeared in English in the 1600s, the -ive suffix had been attached to mark something that has the quality of directing, so a directive is literally a thing that guides or instructs. The same regere root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'regent', 'regular', and even 'correct'. Remembering that 'directive' is just 'direct' plus -ive helps with the spelling, since there is no doubling and no tricky vowel: the final sound is the ordinary -ive ending, not -ative.

How the word is built

• di- (apart, from dis-)
• reg/rect (to guide, set straight)
• -ive (noun/adjective suffix)