Directorate

How to spell directorate

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce directorate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does directorate mean?

1. nounA department, board, or section of an organisation that is managed by a director or group of directors.

Directorate in a sentence

• The intelligence directorate reviewed the report before it reached the minister.

• Funding for the research directorate was approved at the annual budget meeting.

Where does directorate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb dirigere, meaning 'to set straight' or 'to guide', formed from dis- (apart) and regere (to rule or keep straight); the same regere also gives us 'regent', 'region', and 'rectify'. The past participle directus produced 'direct', and adding the agent ending gave 'director', literally 'one who guides'. The further suffix -ate, drawn from the Latin -atus, was used in English to name an office or the body of people exercising it, much as in 'electorate' or 'magistrate'. 'Directorate' entered English in the early 1800s to denote the position of a director and then, more commonly, a board or department headed by directors. The spelling trap is the quiet middle: writers hear 'duh-REK-tuh-rit' and may drop or alter the unstressed -or- and -ate vowels, but the parts director plus -ate stay intact.

How the word is built

• direct (from Latin directus: set straight, guided)
• -or (agent: one who directs)
• -ate (noun suffix marking an office or governing body)