Directly

How to spell directly

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce directly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does directly mean?

1. adverbIn a straight line, without anything in between, or immediately.

Directly in a sentence

• The invoice should be sent directly to the finance department.

• The hotel sits directly across the road from the station.

Where does directly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb regere, meaning 'to guide, rule, or keep straight', the same root that gives us 'regent' and 'regular'. Adding the prefix dis-, here in its shortened di- form meaning 'apart' or 'thoroughly', produced dirigere and its past participle directus, meaning 'set straight' or 'arranged in a straight line'. English took 'direct' through Old French and Latin in the late 1300s, originally with the sense of a straight, unbent path. The adverb 'directly' was then built in English by adding the native -ly suffix, and it kept both the spatial idea of a straight line and a derived idea of without delay or without anything in between. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle vowel and the silent ending: writers hear 'direck-lee' and may drop a letter, but the c, t and -ly all survive intact from rect plus -ly.

How the word is built

• di- (apart, asunder, from dis-)
• rect (root: regere, to guide or rule straight)
• -ly (adverb suffix)