Etymograph

English

direction

Direction comes from Middle English direccioun, from Old French direccion, from Latin dīrēctiō; equivalent to direct + -ion.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīrēctiō1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400direccion1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500direccioun1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1796direction1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English direction
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk: “Her aunt Leonella was still at Cordova, and she…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīrēctiōWiktionary, English direction
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400direccionWiktionary, English direction
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500direcciounWiktionary, English direction
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1796directionWiktionary, English direction. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk: “Her aunt Leonella was still at Cordova, and she…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with direction, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten’

  • right ← reȝt ← reht ← *reht ← *rehtaz
  • real ← rēgālis ← rēx ← *rēks ← *h₃rḗǵs
  • rich ← riche ← rīċe ← *rīkī ← *rīkijaz
  • royal ← roial ← rēgālis ← rēx ← *rēks
  • regular ← reguler ← reguler ← rēgulāris ← rēgula
  • rank ← ranc ← *rankaz
  • correct ← correctus
  • arrangement ← arranger ← arangier ← rengier ← reng
  • roy ← roi ← rēx ← *rēks ← *h₃rḗǵs
  • radar ← range ← rengen ← rengier ← reng
  • arrange ← arengen ← arangier ← rengier ← reng
  • rack ← rakke ← rac

266 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from dīrēctiō →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun A 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).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “direction”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin dīrēctiō / direction