address

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the details of where someone lives or where a building is

   Please write your name and address on the form.

2. 2
   verb

   to write the details of where something should be sent on it

   He addressed the envelope and put on a stamp.

3. 3
   verb

   to deal with a problem or situation

   The report addresses the issue of climate change.

4. 4
   verb

   to speak directly to a person or group

   The president addressed the nation on television.

5. 5
   noun

   a formal speech given to a group of people

   The mayor gave a short address at the opening ceremony.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Address dates from Middle English and comes ultimately from Latin ad-, “towards,” and directus, “put straight.” Its early senses included directing something, writing delivery directions, and putting something right; the sense “direct spoken words to” appeared in the early 16th century, and the noun for a person’s place of residence in the early 17th century.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Old French a- Proto-Italic *dwizrektos Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti Proto-Italic *dwizregō Vulgar Latin dīrigō Vulgar Latin dīrēctus Proto-Indo-European *-yetider. Vulgar Latin -iāre Vulgar Latin *dīrēctiāre Old French drecier Old French adrecierbor. Middle English adressen English address From Middle English adressen (“to raise erect, adorn”), from Old French adrecier (“to straighten, address”) (modern French adresser), from Proto-Romance *addīrēctiāre, from ad- (“to; towards”) +…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary