Etymology

directory

D2I1R1E1C3T1O1R1Y4

Today it means: A list of names, addresses etc, of specific classes of people or organizations, often in alphabetical order or in some classification. Full definition →

Middle English directorie ← Medieval Latin dīrēctōrium ← French directoire
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directory · noun1

  1. French · semantic loan fromdirectoire
  2. Medieval Latin · derived fromdīrēctōrium
  3. Middle English · inherited fromdirectorie
  4. English todaydirectory

From Middle English directorie, dyrectorye, from Medieval Latin dīrēctōrium. By surface analysis, direct + -ory. Doublet of directorium. The political sense is a semantic loan from French directoire.

directory · adjective2

  1. Latin · derived fromdīrēctōrius
  2. Middle English · inherited fromdirectorye
  3. English todaydirectory

From Middle English directorye, from Latin dīrēctōrius. By surface analysis, direct + -ory.

Words from the same roots

Frenchdirectoire all →

directoire

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.