Directorship
(Di*rect"or*ship) n. The condition or office of a director; directorate.
Directory
(Di*rect"o*ry) a. [L. directorius.] Containing directions; enjoining; instructing; directorial.
Directory
(Di*rect"o*ry), n.; pl. Directories
1. A collection or body of directions, rules, or ordinances; esp., a book of directions for the conduct of
worship; as, the Directory used by the nonconformists instead of the Prayer Book.
2. A book containing the names and residences of the inhabitants of any place, or of classes of them; an
address book; as, a business directory.
3. [Cf. F. directoire.] A body of directors; board of management; especially, a committee which held
executive power in France under the first republic.
4. Direction; guide. [R.] Whitlock.
Directress
(Di*rect"ress), n. A woman who directs. Bp. Hurd.
Directrix
(Di*rect"rix) n.; pl. E. Directrixes L. Directrices
1. A directress. [R.] Jer. Taylor.
2. (Geom.) (a) A line along which a point in another line moves, or which in any way governs the
motion of the point and determines the position of the curve generated by it; the line along which the
generatrix moves in generating a surface. (b) A straight line so situated with respect to a conic section
that the distance of any point of the curve from it has a constant ratio to the distance of the same point
from the focus.
Direful
(Dire"ful) a. [Dire + - ful.] Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; woeful; as, a direful fiend; a direful
day. — Dire"ful*ly, adv. — Dire"ful*ness, n.
Direly
(Dire"ly), adv. In a dire manner. Drayton.
Dirempt
(Di*rempt") a. [L. diremptus, p. p. of dirimere to take apart, separate; di- = dis- + emere to
buy, orig., to take.] Divided; separated. [Obs.] Stow.
Dirempt
(Di*rempt"), v. t. To separate by force; to tear apart. [Obs.] Holinshed.
Diremption
(Di*remp"tion) n. [L. diremptio.] A tearing apart; violent separation. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
Direness
(Dire"ness) n. [Dire- + - ness.] Terribleness; horror; woefulness. Shak.
Direption
(Di*rep"tion) n. [L. direptio, fr. diripere to tear asunder, plunder; di- = dis- + rapere to seize
and carry off.] The act of plundering, despoiling, or snatching away. [R.] Speed.
