a book containing an alphabetical index of the names and addresses of persons in a city, district, organization, etc., or of a particular category of people.
a board or tablet on a wall of a building listing the room and floor numbers of the occupants.
a book of directions.
Computers.
Also called folder. an organizing unit in a computer's file system for storing and locating files. In a hierarchical file system, directories can contain child directories subdirectories as well as files.
a description of characteristics of a particular file, as the layout of fields within each record.
French History. the Directory, the body of five directors forming the executive power of France from 1795 to 1799.
a book, arranged alphabetically or classified by trade listing names, addresses, telephone numbers, etc, of individuals or firms
a book or manual giving directions
a book containing the rules to be observed in the forms of worship used in churches
a less common word for directorate
computing an area of a disk, Winchester disk, or floppy disk that contains the names and locations of files currently held on that disk
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin dīrēctōrium, noun use of Late Latin dīrēctōrius directorial; directory in def. 5, translation of French Directoire, from Medieval Latin, as above
A directory is a type of catalog, an organized list of people or businesses and how to contact them. If you need to find your lab partner's phone number, check the school directory. An old-fashioned phone book is a directory, an alphabetical list of the people in your city or town, along with their phone number and address. These days such a directory is more often found online. In computing, a directory is also known as a folder, and it contains information about how data is stored in a computer. In the 16th century, a directory was a book of religious guidelines and rules. Directory comes from a Latin root meaning "to set straight."
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We also tracked where courts were located across Britain using data from The Padel Directory, and found that most were in the wealthiest areas, with the highest numbers in the south of England.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2025
From failing insurrections in Paris and the establishment of a new regime known as the Directory, the key drivers of the assignat were on their way out.
From Science Daily • Sep. 18, 2023
He was 50 years old the last time anyone heard from him, according to the National Missing Person Directory.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 4, 2023
The U.S. government’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also offers a helpful Financial Literacy Resource Directory.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 24, 2023
Directory assistance in Bethel Park informed her that there were fifty-four entries for “Warren” in the township.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
