directory

Pluraldirectories

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A list of names, addresses, and similar details for a particular group of people or organizations, usually arranged alphabetically or by category.

   Like an index for a community: instead of pointing to pages, it points to people.

   The business directory groups local companies by the services they offer.

   Volunteers compiled a directory of every shelter in the county.

   Similarlist, listing, register, index, catalog

   Note

   The word was built to direct: Middle English directorie, from Medieval Latin dīrectōrium, which breaks down as direct plus -ory. In everyday use it takes the preposition in, so you look up an address in the directory and a business is listed in it. The computer's listing of stored files shares this origin and this logic: a list you consult to find where something is.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A virtual container in a computer's file system that holds files and other directories, typically grouping related items together.

   The installer creates a directory for its configuration files.

   Each user account has its own home directory on the server.

   Similarfolder

   Note

   Most computer users meet the word in this meaning, and folder is its everyday synonym. A directory can hold other directories, called subdirectories, so the file system branches like a tree. Unlike the file listing, it is something you create, name, open and save into, and the things inside it usually belong together, as in a home directory or a project directory.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   An organized listing of the files stored on a device, recording each file's name and properties.

   The disk directory shows each file's size and creation date.

   Reading the directory tells the system where each file begins on the disk.

   Similarindex, listing

   Note

   A storage engineer's meaning: the record a file system keeps on the device itself, noting each file's name, size, location and timestamps so the data can be found and managed. It is easy to blur with the folder-like container. The difference is that this one is the catalog, while that one is the place a user opens, browses and saves into.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A form of government whose executive power is held jointly by several members acting as a council, or the council that exercises that power.

   The new directory divided authority among five commissioners.

   Members of the directory voted as a body on every major decision.

   Similardirectorate

   Note

   Politics borrowed this meaning from French directoire. The best-known case is the French Directory of 1795–1799, which governed through five Directors. What defines it is shared rule, and Jonathan D. Smele's Historical Dictionary of the Russian Civil Wars (2015) sets a directory directly against a dictatorship. Directorate is a close synonym, and the capitalized Directory names the French body.

5. 5
   adjective

   Containing or giving directions; serving to instruct or guide.

   The manual's directory passages guide new staff through each step.

   He spoke in a directory manner, issuing clear orders to everyone present.

   Similarinstructional, directive, instructive

   Note

   A separate word from the noun, though spelled the same. It comes through Middle English directorye from Latin dīrectōrius, not from the Medieval Latin noun. It compares with more and most (more directory, most directory). Directorial and instructing are close equivalents, and only its position before a noun or after a linking verb tells it apart from the noun.

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