direction

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin dīrēctiō.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /dəˈɹɛk.ʃən/, /dɪˈɹɛk.ʃən/, /daɪˈɹɛk.ʃən/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛkʃən

Noun

direction (plural directions)

1. The action of directing; pointing (something) towards.
2. Guidance, instruction.

   The trombonist looked to the bandleader for direction.

3. 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.

4. (archaic) An address.
   • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society 1985, p. 218:

     Her aunt Leonella was still at Cordova, and she knew not her direction.

5. The path or course of a given movement, or moving body; an indication of the point toward which an object is moving.

   Keep going in the same direction.

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     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.

Related terms

• direct
• directions
• director
• directive
• misdirection
• redirection
• under the direction of

Translations

indication of the point toward which an object is moving

• Afrikaans: rigting (af)
• Armenian: ուղղություն (hy) (uġġut’yun)
• Bulgarian: посока (bg) (posoka) f, направление (bg) (napravlenie) n
• Catalan: direcció (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 方向 (cmn) (fāngxiàng)

• Czech: směr (cs) m
• Danish: retning (da)
• Dutch: richting (nl)
• Finnish: suunta (fi)
• German: Richtung (de) f
• Greek: κατεύθυνση (el) (katefthinsi) f
• Hebrew: כיוון (he) (kivun) m
• Hindi: दिशा (hi) (disha)
• Hungarian: irány (hu)
• Icelandic: átt (is) f, stefna (is) f
• Korean: 방향 (ko) (banghyang)
• Latvian: virziens (lv) m
• Lithuanian: kryptis (lt) f

• Macedonian: насока (mk) (násoka) f, правец (mk) (právec) m
• Malayalam: ദിശ (ml) (disha)
• Norwegian: retning (no) m and f
• Polish: kierunek (pl) m
• Portuguese: direção (pt) f
• Romanian: direcție (ro) f
• Romansch: direcziun (rm) f, direcziùn (rm) f (Sutsilvan)
• Sanskrit: दिशा (sa) (dishaa)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòladh (gd) m, iùl (gd) m, àird (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian: smjȇr (sh) m
• Slovene: smer (sl) f
• Spanish: dirección (es) f
• Swahili: mwelekeo (sw)
• Swedish: riktning (sv) c, håll (sv) n
• Turkish: yön (tr)
• Turkmen: tarap (tk), ugur (tk)
• Uzbek: yo'nalish (uz)

work of the director (manager)

• Armenian: ղեկավարում (hy) (ġekavarum), ղեկավարություն (hy) (ġekavarut’yun), կառավարում (hy) (kaṙavarum), վարում (hy) (varum)
• Bulgarian: управление (bg) (upravlenie) n, ръководство (bg) (rǎkovodstvo) n
• Catalan: direcció (ca) f
• German: Führung (de) f
• Hebrew: ניהול (he) (nihul) m
• Korean: 지휘 (ko) (jihwi)
• Latvian: vadīšana (lv) f, vadība (lv) f

• Lithuanian: vadovavimas (lt) m
• Macedonian: раководство (mk) (rakóvodstvo) n, раководење (mk) (rakovódenje) n, управување (mk) (upravúvanje) n
• Norwegian: ledelse (no) m
• Polish: kierowanie (pl) n
• Spanish: dirección (es) f
• Swahili: mwelekeo (sw)
• Swedish: ledning (sv) c

work of the director in cinema or theater

• Catalan: direcció (ca) f
• Czech: režie (cs) f
• German: Regie (de) f
• Hebrew: בימוי (he) (bimui) m
• Hungarian: rendezés (hu)
• Korean: 감독 (ko) (gamdok)
• Macedonian: режија (mk) (réžija) f

• Malayalam: സംവിധാനം (ml) (samvidhānam)
• Norwegian: produksjon (no) m
• Polish: reżyseria (pl) f
• Serbo-Croatian: rȇžija (sh) f
• Slovene: režija (sl) f
• Swahili: mwelekeo (sw)
• Swedish: regi (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Kurdish: ئاراسته‌
• Scottish Gaelic: iùl m, cùrsa m, rathad m
• Spanish: dirección (es)
• Telugu: diSa (diSa), dikku (dikku) (1,2), దర్శకత్వం (darSakatvaM) (3)

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: beneath · conversation · music · #836: direction · o' · eight · modern

Anagrams

• cretinoid

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin directio, directionem.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

direction f (plural directions)

1. (spatial) direction
2. (figuratively) direction
3. government
4. (figuratively) the director of the administration/organisation
5. (occasional, figurative) the territory administered by a government