Directory

How to spell directory

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce directory

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does directory mean?

1. nounA book or list giving names, addresses, or other details, usually arranged alphabetically or by category.
2. nounA named container in a computer file system that holds files and other folders.

Directory in a sentence

• She looked up the plumber's number in the local business directory.

• He saved the report in the wrong directory and spent ten minutes finding it.

• The hotel kept a printed directory of nearby restaurants in every room.

• The installer creates a new directory for all of the program files.

Where does directory come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin directorium, a noun meaning 'a guide' or 'a thing that directs', which was built on directus, the past participle of dirigere, 'to set straight' or 'to guide'. That verb in turn combines the prefix di- (a form of dis-, 'apart' or 'thoroughly') with regere, meaning 'to rule, guide, or keep straight', the same root that gives us 'regent' and 'correct'. The -ory ending, from the Latin -orium, names a place or a systematic collection, just as it does in 'dormitory' and 'laboratory'. English adopted the word in the fifteenth century, at first for a book of rules or guidance (notably church service directories), and only later did it settle into the modern sense of an organised list of names, addresses, or files. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle, since the '-tory' ending sounds like a plain 'tree' and the second 'r' is easy to drop.

How the word is built

• direct- (from Latin directus: guided straight, ordered)
• -ory (suffix marking a place or collection)