Meanings
noundirection (countable and uncountable, plural directions)
plural directions
- countableuncountableA 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.
2 more examples
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., →OCLCJust 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 - countableuncountableA general trend for future action.
- countableuncountableThe 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.
- countabledateduncountableThe 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 - archaiccountableuncountableA 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
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsomething that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action
Broader
nouna message describing how something is to be done
Similar
Broader
nouna formal statement of a command or injunction to do something
Similar
nounthe concentration of attention or energy on something
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindīrēctiō
- Old Frenchdireccion
- Middle Englishdireccioun
- Englishdirection
From Middle English direccioun, from Old French direccion, from Latin dīrēctiō. Equivalent to direct + -ion.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans rigting, regie
- rigtingtheoretical line
- regiework of the director
Arabic اِتِّجَاه, إِخْرَاج
- اِتِّجَاه (ittijāh)theoretical line
- إِخْرَاج (ʔiḵrāj)work of the director
Basque norabide
- norabidetheoretical line
Bengali দিক
- দিক (dik)theoretical line
Bulgarian посока, насока
- посока (posoka)theoretical line
- насока (nasoka)theoretical line
- направление (napravlenie)theoretical line
- направле́ние (napravlénie)theoretical line
- указание (ukazanie)guidance, instruction
- напътвствие (napătvstvie)guidance, instruction
- режису́ра (režisúra)work of the director
- управле́ние (upravlénie)work of the director
- ръково́дство (răkovódstvo)work of the director
Catalan direcció, direcció
- direcciótheoretical line
- direcciówork of the director
Chinese Cantonese 方向
- 方向 (fong¹ hoeng³)theoretical line
Chinese Mandarin 方向, 導演 /导演
- 方向 (fāngxiàng)theoretical line
- 導演 /导演 (dǎoyǎn)work of the director
- 管理 (guǎnlǐ)work of the director
Czech směr, režie
- směrtheoretical line
- režiework of the director
- řízeníwork of the director
Danish retning
- retningtheoretical line
Dutch richting
- richtingtheoretical line
Esperanto direkto
- direktotheoretical line
Estonian suund
- suundtheoretical line
Finnish suunta, kurssi
- suuntatheoretical line
- kurssitheoretical line
- ohjausguidance, instruction
- ohjaaminenwork of the director
- johtaminenwork of the director
French direction, direction
- directiontheoretical line
- directionwork of the director
German Kurs, Richtung
- Kurstheoretical line
- Richtungtheoretical line
- Hinweisguidance, instruction
- Anweisungguidance, instruction
- Anweisungguidance, instruction
- Führungguidance, instruction
- Regiework of the director
- Führungwork of the director
Greek κατεύθυνση
- κατεύθυνση (katéfthynsi)theoretical line
Hebrew כיוון \ כִּוּוּן, בימוי
- כיוון \ כִּוּוּן (kivún)theoretical line
- בימוי (bimui)work of the director
- ניהול (nihul)work of the director
Hindi दिशा, तरफ़
- दिशा (diśā)theoretical line
- तरफ़ (taraf)theoretical line
- ओर (or)theoretical line
- निदेश (nideś)guidance, instruction
- निर्देशन (nirdeśan)work of the director
- निदेशन (nideśan)work of the director
Hungarian irány, útmutatás
- iránytheoretical line
- útmutatásguidance, instruction
- iránymutatásguidance, instruction
- eligazításguidance, instruction
- utasításguidance, instruction
- rendezéswork of the director
- irányításwork of the director
- vezetéswork of the director
Icelandic átt, stefna
- átttheoretical line
- stefnatheoretical line
Indonesian arah
- arahtheoretical line
Irish slí, díriú
- slítheoretical line
- díriúguidance, instruction
Italian senso di marcia, direzione di marcia
- senso di marciatheoretical line
- direzione di marciatheoretical line
- direzionetheoretical line
- guidaguidance, instruction
- direzioneguidance, instruction
- senso di marciaguidance, instruction
- regiawork of the director
- conduzionework of the director
- direzionework of the director
Japanese 方向, 監督
- 方向 (hōkō)theoretical line
- 監督 (kantoku)work of the director
- 指揮 (shiki)work of the director
Korean 방향, 감독
- 방향 (banghyang)theoretical line
- 감독 (gamdok)work of the director
- 지휘 (jihwi)work of the director
Latin pars
- parstheoretical line
Latvian virziens, vadīšana
- virzienstheoretical line
- vadīšanawork of the director
- vadībawork of the director
Lithuanian kryptis, vadovavimas
- kryptistheoretical line
- vadovavimaswork of the director
Malay arah
- arahtheoretical line
Māori raranga, ahunga
- rarangatheoretical line
- ahungatheoretical line
- whakahauguidance, instruction
Norwegian Bokmål retning, produksjon
- retningtheoretical line
- produksjonwork of the director
- ledelsework of the director
Persian جهت, سمت
- جهت (jahat)theoretical line
- سمت (samt)theoretical line
- طرف (taraf)theoretical line
- کارگردانی (kârgardâni)work of the director
- رژی (reži)work of the director
Polish kierunek, reżyseria
- kierunektheoretical line
- reżyseriawork of the director
- kierowaniework of the director
Portuguese direção, direção
- direçãotheoretical line
- direçãowork of the director
Romanian direcție, regie
- direcțietheoretical line
- regiework of the director
- conducerework of the director
Russian направле́ние, режиссу́ра
- направле́ние (napravlénije)theoretical line
- режиссу́ра (režissúra)work of the director
- управле́ние (upravlénije)work of the director
- руково́дство (rukovódstvo)work of the director
Scottish Gaelic seòladh, iùl
- seòladhtheoretical line
- iùltheoretical line
- àirdtheoretical line
Slovak smer, usmernenie
- smertheoretical line
- usmernenieguidance, instruction
- réžiawork of the director
- riadeniework of the director
Spanish dirección, dirección
- direccióntheoretical line
- direcciónguidance, instruction
- direcciónwork of the director
- direccióndirectorate
Swahili mwelekeo
- mwelekeotheoretical line
Swedish riktning, håll
- riktningtheoretical line
- hålltheoretical line
- regiwork of the director
- ledningwork of the director
Tamil திசை, திக்கு
- திசை (ticai)theoretical line
- திக்கு (tikku)theoretical line
- வழிகாட்டுதல் (vaḻikāṭṭutal)guidance, instruction
- இயக்கம் (iyakkam)work of the director
Thai ทิศทาง
- ทิศทาง (tít-taang)theoretical line
Turkish yön, istikamet
- yöntheoretical line
- istikamettheoretical line
- doğrultutheoretical line
- rehberlikguidance, instruction
- kılavuzlukguidance, instruction
Ukrainian на́прямок, на́прям
- на́прямок (náprjamok)theoretical line
- на́прям (náprjam)theoretical line
- керу́нок (kerúnok)theoretical line
- режису́ра (režysúra)work of the director
- керівни́цтво (kerivnýctvo)work of the director
Urdu طرف, سمت
- طرف (taraf)theoretical line
- سمت (samt)theoretical line
Vietnamese phương hướng, hướng
- phương hướngtheoretical line
- hướngtheoretical line
Yiddish ריכטונג
- ריכטונג (rikhtung)theoretical line
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with direction
sectioncollectionprotectionselectionconnectionelectioninspectiondetectioninfectioncorrectionprojectioninjectionreflectionrejectionperfectionobjectionresurrectionerectionaffectionconvectiondissectionrecollectioncomplexiondeflection
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
direction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/direction
MLA
“direction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/direction. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “direction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/direction.
Source: direction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.