Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DI-RECT', v.t. [L. directum, directus, from dirigo.]

1. To point or aim in a straight line, toward a place or object; as, to direct an arrow or a piece of ordnance; to direct the eye; to direct a course or flight.
2. To point; to show the right road or course; as, he directed me to the left hand road.
3. To regulate; to guide or lead; to govern; to cause to proceed in a particular manner; as, to direct the affairs of a nation. Wisdom is profitable to direct. – Eccles. x.
4. To prescribe a course; to mark out a way. – Job xxxvii.
5. To order; to instruct; to point out a course of proceeding with authority, to command. But direct is a softer term than command.