different between direction vs sway

English

Etymology

From Middle English direccioun, from Old French direccion, from Latin d?r?cti?. Equivalent to direct +? -ion

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /d(a)????k.??n/
• Rhymes: -?k??n

Noun

direction (countable and uncountable, plural directions)

1. A theoretical line (physically or mentally) followed from a point of origin or towards a destination. May be relative (e.g. up, left, outbound, dorsal), geographical (e.g. north), rotational (e.g. clockwise), or with respect to an object or location (e.g. toward Boston).
   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     Just before Warwick reached Liberty Point, a young woman came down Front Street from the direction of the market-house. When their paths converged, Warwick kept on down Front Street behind her, it having been already his intention to walk in this direction.

2. A general trend for future action.
3. Guidance, instruction.

4. The work of the director in cinema or theater; the skill of directing a film, play etc.

5. (dated) The body of persons who guide or manage a matter; the directorate.
6. (archaic) A person's address.
   • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society 1985, page 218:

     Her aunt Leonella was still at Cordova, and she knew not her direction.

Derived terms

Related terms

• direct

Translations

Anagrams

• cretinoid

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin d?r?cti?, d?r?cti?nem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.??k.sj??/

Noun

direction f (plural directions)

1. (spatial) direction
2. (figuratively) direction
3. government
4. (figuratively) the director of the administration/organisation
5. (occasional, figurative) the territory administered by a government

Derived terms

• direction assistée

Related terms

• directeur
• diriger

Descendants

• ? Turkish: direksiyon

Further reading

• “direction” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Interlingua

Noun

direction (plural directiones)

1. direction (orientation, point where one is headed)
2. direction, leadership, control, supervision

English

Etymology

Earlier swey (“to fall, swoon”), from Middle English sweyen, from Old Norse sveigja (“to bend, bow”), from Proto-Germanic *swaigijan? (compare Saterland Frisian swooie (“to swing, wave, wobble”), Dutch zwaaien, Dutch Low Saxon sweuen (“to sway in the wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweh?- (compare Lithuanian sva?gti (“to become giddy or dizzy”), the second element of Avestan ????????????????????-????????????????????????????? (paⁱri-šxuaxta, “to surround”), Sanskrit ?????? (svájate, “he embraces, enfolds”).

The noun derived from the verb.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sw?, IPA^(key): /swe?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Noun

sway (countable and uncountable, plural sways)

1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.
2. A rocking or swinging motion.

3. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side
4. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
5. Rule; dominion; control; power.
6. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.
7. The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's lateral motion.

Translations

Verb

sway (third-person singular simple present sways, present participle swaying, simple past and past participle swayed)

1. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.

   • Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

2. To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield.
3. To influence or direct by power, authority, persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. Compare persuade.

   • This was the race / To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
4. To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest.

5. (nautical) To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.

6. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
   • 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain

     The balance sways on our part.

7. To have weight or influence.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     The example of sundry churches […] doth sway much.

8. To bear sway; to rule; to govern.

Derived terms

• asway

Translations

See also

• persuade

Anagrams

• -ways, Yaws, ways, yaws