direction
nounCA, US, UK /dɪˈɹɛk.ʃən/ · AU /dɪˈɹek.ʃən/
Etymology From Middle English direccioun, from Old French direccion, from Latin dīrēctiō. Equivalent to direct + -ion.
1
A theoretical line (physically or mentally) followed from a point of origin or towards a destination. May be relative (e.g. up, left, outbound, dorsal), geographical (e.g. north), rotational (e.g. clockwise), or with respect to an object or location (e.g. toward Boston).
- Keep going in the same direction.
- Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
1 more example
- Just before Warwick reached Liberty Point, a young woman came down Front Street from the direction of the market-house. When their paths converged, Warwick kept on down Front Street behind her, it having been already his intention to walk in this direction.1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
2
A general trend for future action.
3
Guidance, instruction.
- The trombonist looked to the bandleader for direction.
4
The work of the director in cinema or theater; the skill of directing a film, play etc.
- The screenplay was good, but the direction was weak.
5
Dated The body of persons who guide or manage a matter; the directorate.
- I shall not rest satisfied with merely employing my capital in insuring ships. I shall buy up some good Life Assurance shares, and cut into the Direction.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter III, in Great Expectations […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 46:
6
Archaic A person's address.
- Her aunt Leonella was still at Cordova, and she knew not her direction.1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society, published 1985, page 218:
- Derived terms
34 terms
cardinal direction, codirection, co-direction, directional, directionality, Directioner, directionful, direction indicator, directionize, directionless, direction sign, direction vector, directive, director, eigendirection, general direction, intercardinal direction, is this the right direction for, misdirection, nondirection, ordinal direction, qibla direction, radio direction finder, redirection, relative direction, self-direction, sense of direction, stage direction, stereodirection, unidirection, wind direction, x-direction, y-direction, z-direction- Related terms
- direct