Other forms: directions
A direction is the way something is going or facing. You come out of the station and have to choose one — left, right or straight on.
In the plural, directions are instructions: you ask a stranger for directions, and you follow the directions on the back of the packet. Direction is also the running of things, as in a company under the direction of a new chief, or the direction of a film, which is what a director does. And it is the way something is developing: the direction the country is heading in, a step in the right direction. The phrase is IN the direction of, meaning towards, and the way back is the opposite direction. Asking for a direction sounds wrong to English ears; when you are lost, you ask for directions.
1noundirectionThe way in which somebody or something moves, points or faces.~42%
“The wind changed direction in the night and brought the rain back.”
2nounpluralIn the plural, instructions for getting somewhere or for doing something.~2%
“We stopped at a garage to ask for directions.”
3nouncontrolThe control or guidance of a group of people or a piece of work.~35%
“Under her direction the department doubled in size.”
4noungeneralThe general way in which something is developing or changing.~21%
“The company has lost direction since the founder retired.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 14 sentences found in the wild and placed 14 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
direction is a way of facing or moving.
Direction came through Middle English direccioun and Old French direccion from Latin dīrēctiō. Take it apart and it is simply direct with the noun ending -ion stuck on the end, the same way action sits behind act. The word has always been about setting a straight line and following it.
Latin
dīrēctiō
Old French
direccion
Middle English
direccioun
English, today
direction
From Middle English direccioun, from Old French direccion, from Latin dīrēctiō. Equivalent to direct + ion.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA