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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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She created a directory of her daughter’s friends’ numbers, and the girls would call each other to make bike-riding plans.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026
You can start with the IRS directory of credentialed professionals.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
However, Sherborne produced emails in court indicating the Mail newspapers had provided access to the electoral roll and phone directory for journalists' research.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
Gamestop’s official store directory showed many California stores closed all week.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026
“I thought so, but then I looked at the poster more closely and it’s a different photo of you. Same awful sentiment, but it isn’t your old freshman directory photo.”
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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.
