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di·rec·tion (dĭ-rĕkshən, dī-)
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n.
1. The management, supervision, or guidance of a group or operation: The manager's direction of the sales campaign has been highly effective.
2. The art or action of directing a musical, theatrical, or cinematic production.
3.
a. An authoritative order or command: The supervisor shouted directions to employees in the warehouse.
b. Music A word or phrase in a score indicating how a passage is to be played or sung.
c. directions Instructions in how to do something or reach a destination: read the directions before assembling the grill; asked for directions in how to get to the lake.
4.
a. The course along which a person or thing is moving or must move to reach a destination: The boat left the bay and sailed in a northerly direction.
b. The point toward which a person or thing faces or is oriented: The twins stood back to back, looking in opposite directions.
5. A course or line of development; a tendency toward a particular end or goal: charting a new direction for the company.

[Middle English, arrangement, from Latin dīrēctiō, dīrēctiōn-, from dīrēctus, past participle of dīrigere, to direct; see DIRECT.]

di·rection·less adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.