direct

English

Etymology

From Latin dīrectus, perfect passive participle of dīrigō (“straighten, direct”), from dis- (“asunder, in pieces, apart, in two”) + regō (“make straight, rule”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈrɛkt/, /ˌdaɪˈrɛkt/, /dɚˈɛkt/, SAMPA: /dI"rEkt/, /%daI"rEkt/, /d3`"Ekt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛkt

Adjective

direct (comparative more direct, superlative most direct)

1. Straight, constant, without interruption.

Translations

Straight, constant, without interruption

Arabic: مستقيم (ar) (mustaqiim) Bulgarian: пряк (bg) (prjak), непосредствен (bg) (neposrédstven) Catalan: directe (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 直接 (zh) (zhíjiē) Esperanto: rekta (eo) Finnish: suora (fi) French: direct (fr) German: direkt (de), unmittelbar (de) Greek: άμμεσος (el) (ámmesos) m.

Haitian Creole: dirèk Hindi: सीधा (hi) (sīdhā) Interlingua: directe (ia) Japanese: 直接の (ja) (ちょくせつの, chokusetsu-no) Latin: directus (la) Russian: прямой (ru) (prjamój), непосредственный (ru) (neposrédstvennyj), постоянный (ru) (postojánnyj) (e.g. current) Spanish: directo (es) Swedish: direkt (sv), omedelbar (sv) Urdu: سیدھا (ur) (sīdhā)

Antonyms

• indirect

Derived terms

• direct action
• direct current
• direct flight
• direct initiative
• direct object
• direct quote

Adverb

direct (comparative more direct, superlative most direct)

1. Directly.
   • 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate 2010, p. 346:

     Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct.

Verb

direct (third-person singular simple present directs, present participle directing, simple past and past participle directed)

1. To manage, control, steer.
2. To aim at.

   They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.

   He directed his question to the room in general.

Related terms

• direction
• directly
• director
• adroit
• dirge
• dirigible
• dress

Translations

to manage, control, steer

Bulgarian: ръководя (bg), управлявам (bg) Danish: dirigere (da), lede (da) Esperanto: gvidi (eo) Finnish: ohjata (fi)

Hebrew: ניהל (he) (nehél) Russian: управлять (ru) (upravlját') impf. Spanish: dirigir (es) Swedish: leda (sv), styra (sv)

to aim at

Bulgarian: упътвам (bg), насочвам (bg) Danish: rette (da) Finnish: tähdätä (fi) Hebrew: כיוון (he) (kivén)

Polish: kierować (pl) Russian: направлять (ru) (napravlját') impf., направить (ru) (naprávit') pf., нацеливать (ru) (nacélivat') impf., нацелить (ru) (nacélit') pf. Swedish: rikta (sv)

Anagrams

• credit
• triced

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Adverb

direct

1. immediately

Synonyms

• onmiddellijk
• meteen
• rechtstreeks

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dīrectus.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA: /di.ʁɛkt/
• Homophone: directs

Adjective

direct m. (f. directe, m. plural directs, f. plural directes)

1. direct

Adverb

direct

1. directly

Related terms

• diriger
• directeur
• direction

Derived terms

• directement
• en direct

See also

• droit

Anagrams

• crédit
• décrit
• dicter