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Dictionary:

direct

  (dĭ-rĕkt', dī-) pronunciation

v., -rect·ed, -rect·ing, -rects.

v.tr.
  1. To manage or conduct the affairs of; regulate.
  2. To have or take charge of; control. See synonyms at conduct.
  3. To give authoritative instructions to: directed the student to answer.
  4. To cause to move toward a goal; aim. See synonyms at aim.
  5. To show or indicate the way for: directed us to the airport.
  6. To cause to move in or follow a straight course: directed their fire at the target.
  7. To indicate the intended recipient on (a letter, for example).
  8. To address or adapt (remarks, for example) to a specific person, audience, or purpose.
    1. To give guidance and instruction to (actors or musicians, for example) in the rehearsal and performance of a work.
    2. To supervise the performance of.
v.intr.
  1. To give commands or directions.
  2. To conduct a performance or rehearsal.
adj.
  1. Proceeding without interruption in a straight course or line; not deviating or swerving: a direct route.
  2. Straightforward and candid; frank: a direct response.
  3. Having no intervening persons, conditions, or agencies; immediate: direct contact; direct sunlight.
  4. Effected by action of the voters, rather than through elected representatives or delegates: direct elections.
  5. Being of unbroken descent; lineal: a direct descendant of the monarch.
  6. Consisting of the exact words of the writer or speaker: a direct quotation; direct speech.
  7. Lacking compromising or mitigating elements; absolute: direct opposites.
  8. Mathematics. Varying in the same manner as another quantity, especially increasing if another quantity increases or decreasing if it decreases.
  9. Astronomy. Designating west-to-east motion of a planet in the same direction as the sun's movement against the stars.
  10. Sports. Being a free kick in soccer by which a goal can be scored without the ball being touched by a second player.
adv.

Straight; directly.

[Middle English directen, from Latin dīrigere, dīrēct-, to give direction to : dī-, dis-, apart; see dis– + regere, to guide.]


 
 
Thesaurus: direct

verb

  1. To have charge of (the affairs of others): administer, administrate, govern, head, manage, run, superintend, supervise. See over/under.
  2. To control the course of (an activity): carry on, conduct, manage, operate, run, steer. See over/under.
  3. To exercise authority or influence over: control, dominate, govern, rule. Idioms: be at the helm, be in the driver's seat, hold sway over, hold the reins. See over/under.
  4. To give orders to: bid, charge, command, enjoin, instruct, order, tell. See over/under, words.
  5. To devote (oneself or one's efforts): address, apply, bend, buckle down, concentrate, dedicate, devote, focus, give, turn. See collect/distribute, work/play.
  6. To show the way to: conduct, escort, guide, lead, pilot, route, shepherd, show, steer, usher. See show/hide.
  7. To move (a weapon or blow, for example) in the direction of someone or something: aim, cast, head, level, point, set1, train, turn, zero in. Military lay1. See seek/avoid.
  8. To mark (a written communication) with its destination: address, superscribe. See start/end.

adjective

  1. Proceeding or lying in an uninterrupted line or course: straight, straightforward, through. See straight/bent.
  2. Manifesting honesty and directness, especially in speech: candid, downright, forthright, frank, honest, ingenuous, man-to-man, open, plainspoken, straight, straightforward, straight-out, unreserved. Informal straight-from-the-shoulder, straight-shooting. See clear/unclear, show/hide.
  3. Marked by the absence of any intervention: firsthand, immediate, primary. See clear/unclear, near/far/distance.
  4. Of unbroken descent or lineage: lineal. See continue/stop/pause.

adverb

  1. In a direct line: dead, directly, due, right, straight, straightaway. See straight/bent.
  2. With precision or absolute conformity: bang, dead, directly, exactly, fair, flush, just, precisely, right, smack1, square, squarely, straight. Slang smack-dab. See precise/imprecise.

 
Antonyms: direct

adj

Definition: face-to-face; next to
Antonyms: indirect

adj

Definition: honest
Antonyms: devious, dishonest, indirect, wily

adj

Definition: undeviating; uninterrupted
Antonyms: changing, deviating, indirect, intermittent, interrupted, varying

v

Definition: give instructions; teach
Antonyms: misguide, mislead

v

Definition: manage, oversee
Antonyms: misguide, mismanage, neglect

v

Definition: point in a direction; guide
Antonyms: diverge, misdirect

 
Dental Dictionary: direct
(dīrekt′)
adj

Relating to any restorative procedure performed directly on a tooth without the use of a die (for example, a wax pattern formed in the prepared cavity), silver amalgam, or one of the powdered, granular, or foil golds compacted into a prepared cavity.

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: directing

Art of coordinating and controlling all elements in the staging of a play or making of a film. Until the late 19th century, a theatrical director was usually the play's leading actor or the company's actor-manager. Today's stage director combines elements such as actors, decor, costumes, and lighting to shape an imaginative interpretation of the playwright's script. The director must understand the art of acting and provide guidance for the actors. The director also composes the "stage pictures," the shifting arrangements of the actors and other elements on the stage. The film director combines the theatrical director's responsibilities with the technical functions of cinematography, editing, and sound recording. See also actor-manager system; auteur theory.

For more information on directing, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: directing,
the art of leading dramatic performances on the stage or in films. The modern theatrical director is in complete charge of all the artistic aspects of a dramatic presentation.

It is the director's first task to discover a central mood or idea in the text of the play to be performed that will serve as a unifying determinant for the interpretation of individual scenes and characters. Then he or she must work out the movement of the actors on stage and the pacing of each line and scene. Finally, the director helps plan the lighting, scenery, sound effects, and musical accompaniment for the production. All the director's efforts are aimed at creating a fully unified aesthetic experience.

For information on motion picture directing, see motion pictures; motion picture photography. See also drama, Western; Asian drama; theater; acting; scene design and stage lighting.

Evolution of Modern Directing

Directing in some form has always existed in the theater. In ancient Greece playwrights trained their chorus and actors, and medieval religious plays had either individual or group directors. During later centuries the stage manager was the forerunner of the director. In England, Madame Vestris and W. C. Macready were the first to place great emphasis on the importance of rehearsing, and they also introduced realistic scenery and acting techniques. The 19th-century interest in realism, coupled with far-reaching technical advances, made indispensable the director's function of integrating the various and increasingly complex aspects of play production.

Approaches to Directing

The beginning of modern directing is commonly associated with the Meiningen Players, a German acting troupe organized in 1874 by George II, duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Under the direction of Ludwig Chronegk, the group worked as a unit, setting an influential example of effective ensemble playing. Leading realistic directors of the late 19th cent. included André Antoine in France, Otto Brahm in Germany, and Constantin Stanislavsky in Russia. The most innovative of these was probably Stanislavsky, who stressed ensemble acting and the importance of actors' absolute identification with their roles.

Almost as soon as realism gained ascendancy, various antirealistic theatrical movements developed, beginning with Paul Fort's Théâtre d'Art (1890). The theories of Adolphe Appia in Germany and Edward Gordon Craig in England encouraged European directors to experiment with symbolic settings. Even conservative directors such as Harley Granville-Barker and Jacques Copeau soon realized that a realistic setting was not essential to the true rendering of a play's meaning.

In addition to producing increased artistic possibilities for directors, the rise of antirealism made the director's practical task of coordinating scene design, lighting, and acting even more essential. A director who experimented successfully with both realism and antirealism was the German Max Reinhardt. Noted for his extravagant productions, he tried to remove the barrier between actors and audience by projecting the stage into the audience and scattering actors among the spectators.

During the 1920s there were several important antirealist directors working in Germany and the Soviet Union, notably Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Tairov, and Erwin Piscator. A disciple of Reinhardt, Piscator worked with the playwright Bertolt Brecht, whose theories have greatly influenced 20th-century theater. In order to emphasize the social and intellectual content of Brecht's plays, Piscator utilized stylized settings and mechanical devices such as motion pictures. Brecht wished to insure the intellectual receptiveness of his audience by making it continually aware that it was watching a play, not reality. To this end he and Piscator took the opposite of the Stanislavsky technique and schooled their actors to alienate themselves from their roles.

During the 19th and early 20th cent., the American theater was dominated by directors specializing in elaborate surface realism, with David Belasco as their prototype. A break from that tendency was made by the Group Theatre (1931–41), with Cheryl Crawford, Lee Strasberg, and Harold Clurman directing plays of social significance and promulgating Stanislavsky's theories of acting. Strasberg's Actors' Studio has produced several generations of theater and film actors devoted to the Stanislavsky technique. Enormous emotional expressiveness was also elicited by José Quintero in his direction of actors at New York's Circle in the Square and in Poland by Jerzy Grotowski in his sparely experimental productions at Wrocław's Polish Laboratory Theatre.

During the 1950s and 60s the emergence of the theater of the absurd and the theater of cruelty granted directors more scope than ever. Many directors, among them Peter Brook, began incorporating music, acrobatics, dance, film, and mime into their productions, whether the plays being performed were by Beckett, Stoppard, or Shakespeare. Theatrical happenings and the orgiastic productions of Julian Beck's Living Theater—replete with audience participation—may be viewed either as giving the director unlimited freedom or as eliminating his function altogether.

The director was commonly of prime importance in the theatrical productions of the late 20th cent. In the Brooks tradition, a number of directors, including America's Peter Sellars, Germany's Peter Stein, France's Ariane Mnouchine, and Poland's Tadeusz Kantor, put their individual and innovative creative stamps on classical and contemporary works. A wide range of approaches and preoccupations characterized late 20th-century directors, including the social concerns of such figures as Brazil's Augusto Boal and Russia's Lev Dodin; the experimentalism of such writer-directors as America's Robert Wilson and Maria Irene Fornes, Canada's Robert Lepage, and Japan's Shuji Terayama; and the varied techniques of such other prominent directors as Jonathan Miller (Great Britain), Yukio Ninagawa (Japan), Lluís Pasqual (Spain), and Julie Taymore (United States).

Bibliography

See E. G. Craig, The Art of the Theatre (1905) and Towards a New Theatre (1913); C. Stanislavsky, My Life in Art (1948); N. Marshall, The Producer and the Play (2d ed. 1962); T. Cole and H. K. Chinov, ed., Directors on Directing (1963); H. Clurman, On Directing (1972); E. Braun, The Director and the Stage (1982); W. Bell, Sense of Direction (1984); A. Bartow, The Dirctor's Voice (1988); D. Bradby and D. Williams, Directors' Theatre (1988); L. E. Catron, The Director's Vision (1989); A. Dean, The Fundamentals of Play Directing (5th ed. 1989); W. J. Robert, Directing in the Theatre (2d ed. 1993); J. W. Frick and S. M. Vallillo, ed., Theatrical Directors (1994); J. Luere and S. Berger, ed., Playwright vs. Director (1994); M. M. Delgado and P. Heritage, ed., In Contact with the Gods?: Directors Talk Theatre (1997).

 
Law Encyclopedia: Direct
This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

As a verb, to point to; guide; order; command; instruct. To advise; suggest; request. As an adjective, immediate; proximate; by the shortest course; without circuity; operating by an immediate connection or relation, instead of operating through an intermediary; the opposite of indirect. In the usual or regular course or order, as distinguished from that which diverts, interrupts, or opposes. The opposite of cross, contrary, collateral, or remote. Without any intervening medium, agency, or influence; unconditional.

 
Veterinary Dictionary: direct

Without intervening steps.

  • d. antiglobulin test — see direct coombs test.
  • d. capture ELISA mastitis test — measures polymorphonuclear antigens in milk sample as an indication of elevated milk cell counts and therefore presence of mastitis.
  • d. contact — see direct contact.
  • d. costs — see variable costs.
  • d. effect — the effect of one variable on another without passing through a third variable.
  • d. immunofluorescence testing — see fluorescence microscopy.
  • d. oxidative pathway — see pentose phosphate pathway.
  • d. relationship — see direct relationship.
 
Word Tutor: direct
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: To guide.

pronunciation The conductor directed the orchestra in a rousing concert.

 
Translations: Translations for: Direct

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - direkte, ligefrem, åben, i grundform, retløbende
adv. - umiddelbart, direkte
v. tr. - lede, dirigere, pålægge, stile, vise, styre, rette mod, instruere
v. intr. - arbejde som filminstruktør

idioms:

  • direct access    direkte tilgang
  • direct action    direkte aktion
  • direct address    direkte adresse
  • direct broadcast satellite    direkte satellitudsendelse, direkte satellit signaler
  • direct current    jævnstrøm
  • direct debit    betalingsservice
  • direct hit    fuldtræffer
  • direct mail    direkte post
  • direct marketing    direkte påvirkning af slutbrugeren
  • direct object    direkte objekt
  • direct rule    direkte styreform
  • direct speech    direkte tale
  • direct tax    direkte skat

Nederlands (Dutch)
leiden, dirigeren, het bevel voeren, adresseren, richten, de weg wijzen, bestemmen, regisseren, sturen, opdracht geven, direct, rechtstreeks, uit de eerste hand

Français (French)
adj. - direct, immédiat, catégorique, absolu, imminent, franc, (Comput) direct, (Élec) continu, (Mil) au but, (Astron) direct, (Ling) (complément d'objet direct)
adv. - directement
v. tr. - adresser (à), diriger (sur), gouverner, gérer, administrer (affaires), guider (des mouvements), (Théât) mettre en scène, (Cin, Radio, TV) réaliser, diriger (groupe d'acteurs)
v. intr. - (Cin, Radio, TV) réaliser, (Théât) mettre en scène

idioms:

  • direct access    (Comput) accès direct
  • direct action    action directe
  • direct address    (Comput) adressage direct
  • direct broadcast satellite    satellite de diffusion directe
  • direct current    (Élec) courant continu
  • direct debit    (Comm) prélèvement
  • direct hit    (Mil) coup au but
  • direct mail    publipostage
  • direct marketing    marketing direct
  • direct object    (Ling) complément d'objet direct
  • direct rule    (Pol) administration directe (par le gouvernement central)
  • direct speech    discours ou style direct
  • direct tax    impôt direct

Deutsch (German)
v. - leiten, dirigieren, lenken, richten, anweisen, Regie führen, inszenieren
adj. - direkt, unmittelbar
adv. - direkt, unmittelbar

idioms:

  • direct access    (EDV) Direktzugriff
  • direct action    direkte Aktion
  • direct address    (EDV) Direktadresse
  • direct broadcast satellite    direkte Satellitensendung
  • direct current    (electr.) Gleichstrom
  • direct debit    Abbuchung aufgrund Einzugsermächtigung
  • direct hit    Volltreffer
  • direct mail    Werbesendungen, Direktversand
  • direct marketing    Werbesendungen, Direktvertrieb
  • direct object    (ling.) direktes Objekt
  • direct rule    Regierung von zentraler Stelle aus
  • direct speech    (ling.) direkte Rede
  • direct tax    direkte Steuer

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - κατευθύνω, απευθύνω, διευθύνω, χειρίζομαι (κν. κουμαντάρω, διοικώ), εστιάζω, στρέφω (προς), εντέλλομαι, διατάζω, σκηνοθετώ, δείχνω
adj. - ευθύς, ίσιος, άμεσος, ειλικρινής, ντόμπρος, απερίφραστος, κατηγορηματικός

idioms:

  • direct access    (τεχνολ.) άμεση προσπέλαση ανάγνωσης (αρχείων) Η/Υ
  • direct action    άμεσες ενέργειες, (καθομ.) συνδικαλιστική κινητοποίηση σε βάρος του κοινού
  • direct address    (Η/Υ) ακριβής διεύθυνση
  • direct broadcast satellite    δορυφόρος άμεσης/ψηφιακής εκπομπής
  • direct current    (ηλεκτρ.) συνεχές ρεύμα
  • direct debit    (οικον.) απευθείας χρέωση λογαριασμού
  • direct hit    εύστοχη βολή, εύστοχο πλήγμα (κν. διάνα)
  • direct mail    διαφημιστικό υλικό που ταχυδρομείται σε ιδιώτες
  • direct marketing    προώθηση διαφημιστικού υλικού μέσω ταχυδρομείου
  • direct object    (γραμμ.) άμεσο αντικείμενο
  • direct rule    άμεση διακυβέρνηση (από την κεντρική εξουσία)
  • direct speech    (γραμμ.) ευθύς λόγος
  • direct tax    άμεσος φόρος

Italiano (Italian)
dirigere, condurre, diretto, frontale

idioms:

  • direct access    accesso diretto
  • direct action    azione diretta
  • direct address    indirizzo dati
  • direct current    corrente continua
  • direct debit    saldo a mezzo banca
  • direct hit    colpo diretto
  • direct mail    posta pubblicitaria
  • direct marketing    vendita diretta
  • direct object    complemento oggetto
  • direct rule    amministrazione centralizzata
  • direct speech    discorso diretto
  • direct tax    imposta diretta

Português (Portuguese)
v. - dirigir
adj. - direto

idioms:

  • direct access    acesso (m) direto
  • direct action    ação (f) direta
  • direct address    falar diretamente a, endereço
  • direct current    corrente (f) contínua
  • direct debit    débito (m) direto
  • direct hit    soco (m) direto, golpe (m) preciso
  • direct mail    mala (f) direta
  • direct marketing    marketing (m) direto
  • direct object    objeto (m) direto
  • direct rule    ordem (f) direta
  • direct speech    palavras (f pl) textuais
  • direct tax    imposto (m) direto

Русский (Russian)
направлять, вести, ставить, прямой, непосредственный

idioms:

  • direct access    непосредственный доступ
  • direct action    открытые действия
  • direct address    прямой адрес
  • direct current    постоянный ток
  • direct debit    автоматически дебетовать
  • direct hit    прямой удар
  • direct mail    рекламные листовки и буклеты
  • direct marketing    прямой маркетинг
  • direct object    прямое дополнение
  • direct rule    прямое правление, без избирательных учреждений
  • direct speech    прямая речь
  • direct tax    прямой налог

Español (Spanish)
adj. - frontal, abierto, franco
adv. - frontal, abierto, franco, frontalmente, abiertamente, francamente
v. tr. - encabezar, guiar, gobernar, controlar, dirigir, enfocar, apuntar
v. intr. - guiar, gobernar, dirigir, franco, comandar

idioms:

  • direct access    acceso directo
  • direct action    acción directa
  • direct address    dirección directa
  • direct broadcast satellite    difusión directa satelital
  • direct current    corriente continua
  • direct debit    domiciliación bancaria, débito bancario
  • direct hit    impacto directo
  • direct mail    publicidad enviada por correo
  • direct marketing    comercialización directa
  • direct object    complemento directo
  • direct rule    gobierno directo
  • direct speech    estilo o discurso directo
  • direct tax    impuesto directo

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - rikta, styra, anvisa, adressera, visa vägen, befalla
adj. - direkt, omedelbar, rakt på sak, tydlig

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
直接的, 坦白的, 直接地, 指示, 命令, 指挥, 指导

idioms:

  • direct access    直接存储, 随机存取
  • direct action    直接动作, 直接作用
  • direct address    直接寻址
  • direct broadcast satellite    直播卫星
  • direct current    直流电流
  • direct debit    直接借记, 直接从帐户扣除
  • direct hit    直接命中
  • direct mail    直接邮件, 直接邮寄广告
  • direct marketing    工厂门市部直接销售
  • direct object    直接宾语
  • direct rule    直接支配
  • direct speech    直接引语
  • direct tax    直接税

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 直接的, 坦白的
adv. - 直接地
v. tr. - 指示, 命令, 指揮
v. intr. - 指導, 指揮

idioms:

  • direct access    直接存儲, 隨機存取
  • direct action    直接動作, 直接作用
  • direct address    直接定址
  • direct broadcast satellite    直播衛星
  • direct current    直流電流
  • direct debit    直接借記, 直接從帳戶扣除
  • direct hit    直接命中
  • direct mail    直接郵件, 直接郵寄廣告
  • direct marketing    工廠門市部直接銷售
  • direct object    直接受詞
  • direct rule    直接支配
  • direct speech    直接引語
  • direct tax    直接稅

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 곧 바른, 바로 나아가는, 직설적인
adv. - 바로, 직행하여, 봉투 겉면에 적다
v. tr. - 지휘하다, 지시하다, (주의를) 기울이다
v. intr. - 지휘하다, 안내역할을 맡다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 指導する, 管理する, 指図する, 指示する, 宛名を書く, 道を教える, 向ける, 伝える, 監督をつとめる, 取り締まる
adj. - まっすぐな, 直進の, 直接の, 直接投票の, 率直な, 正面の, 順行する, 正の
adv. - まっすぐに, 直接に

idioms:

  • direct access    ランダムアクセス
  • direct action    直接行動, 直接作用
  • direct address    直接アドレス
  • direct current    直流
  • direct debit    口座引き落とし
  • direct hit    直撃弾, 直撃
  • direct mail    ダイレクトメール
  • direct marketing    ダイレクトマーケティング
  • direct object    直接目的語
  • direct rule    直接支配
  • direct speech    直接話法
  • direct tax    直接税

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يدير, يقود, يخرج ( فيلما أو مسرحيه), يدل, يعنون ( رساله) , يأمر (صفه) مستقيم, صريح, مباشر‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮ישר, ישיר, ברור, כן, מדויק, שלם‬
adv. - ‮ישר, ישיר, ישירות, היישר‬
v. tr. - ‮הנחה, הדריך, היפנה, כיוון, פיקח, ניהל, ציווה, הורה, ביים‬
v. intr. - ‮הדריך, היפנה, ציווה, הורה, עבד כבמאי‬

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American Sign Language
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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