directory

C1 Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /dɝˈɛktɝi/ UK /dɪˈɹɛktəɹi/ See IPA manual

Freq #17637

Meanings

1

noun
A book or list of names, addresses, and other details, usually in alphabetical order.

I looked up her number in the telephone directory.
2

noun
A named place in a computer's file system where files and other folders are stored.

Save the document in the project directory on your hard drive.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a named place in a... folder

Word family

Forms directories

Derived forms directorylessex-directorymetadirectorynon-directorysuperdirectory

Related forms atlas gazetteer indexrolodex

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

telephone directory
a reference list of subscribers and their telephone numbers

Noun + noun

Etymology

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.

directorie Middle English dīrēctōrium la-med

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# directory

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /dɝˈɛktɝi/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈɹɛktəɹi/
**Frequency rank:** 17637

## Meanings
1. A book or list of names, addresses, and other details, usually in alphabetical order.
2. A named place in a computer's file system where files and other folders are stored.

## Examples
- I looked up her number in the telephone directory.
- Save the document in the project directory on your hard drive.

## Derived Forms
- directoryless
- ex-directory
- metadirectory
- non-directory
- superdirectory

## Related Forms
- atlas
- gazetteer
- index
- rolodex

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: directorie
- Root: dīrēctōrium
- Affix: -ory - relating to

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Directory comes 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. The historical chain includes directorie (Middle English) and dīrēctōrium (Medieval Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as directoryless, ex-directory, metadirectory, and non-directory and related forms such as atlas, gazetteer, and index. In present use it covers a book or list of names, addresses, and other details, usually in alphabetical order and a named place in a computer's file system where files and other folders are stored.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

markdown