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directory.

A list of names, addresses etc, of specific classes of people or organizations, often in alphabetical order or in some classification.

9 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/dɪˈɹɛktəɹi/UK/daɪˈɹɛktəɹi/UK
  1. A list of names, addresses etc, of specific classes of people or organizations, often in alphabetical order or in some classification.

    look up an address in the directory
  2. A structured listing of the names and characteristics of the files on a storage device.

  3. A virtual container in a computer's file system, in which files and other directories may be stored. The files and subdirectories in a directory are usually related.

  4. A form of government with a collegial executive whose members jointly exercise power; the executive of such a government.

Where this word comes from

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.

adj/dɪˈɹɛktəɹi/UK/daɪˈɹɛktəɹi/UK
  1. Containing directions; instructing; directorial.

Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.