directory 
quired by the calendar; especially, in medieval 
English usage, a book of directions for saying 
the hours. Also called ordinal, pica, or pie. 
The directory of the Greek Church is called the 
typicum. 
There may be usefully set forth by the Church a com- 
mon directory of publick prayer, especially in the admin- 
istration of the Sacraments. 
Miltmi, Apology for Smectymiiuus. 
"So pray ye," or after this manner: which if we ex- 
pound only to the sense of becoming a pattern, or a direc- 
tory, it is observable that it is not only directory for the 
matter but for the manner too. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 278. 
The principal ecclesiastical directories are : (1) The set 
of rules drawn up in 1644 by the Westminster Assem- 
bly of Divines, to take the place of the Book of Common 
Prayer of the Church of England, ratified by Parliament 
in 1645, and adopted by the Scottish General Assembly 
the same year. (2) In the Rom. Cath. Ch., a list, drawn 
up by authority of the bishop, containing directions as to 
the mass and office to be said on each day of the year. The 
number of feasts in the present calendar, and the frequent 
necessity of transferring some, commemorating or omit- 
ting others, makes the Directorium (or, as it is usually 
called, the Ordo) necessary for the clergy. The " Catholic 
Directory," familiar to English Catholics, contains, besides 
the Ordo, a list of clergy, churches, etc. An annual called 
the "Catholic Directory" occupies the same field in the 
United States as the English Directory. Cath. Diet. 
Specifically 2. A book containing an alpha- 
betical list of the inhabitants of a city, town, 
district, or the like, with their occupation, place 
of business, and abode. 3. A board of direc- 
tors; a directorate. Specifically 4. [cap.} 
The body constituting toe executive in Prance 
during a part of the revolutionary epoch, con- 
sisting of five members called directors, one of 
whom retired each year. Succeeding the govern- 
ment of the Convention, it existed from October, 1795, to 
November 9th, 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon 
Bonaparte (coup d'etat of the 18th Brumaire), and succeed- 
ed by the Consulate. Under the Directory the legislative 
power was vested in a Council of Ancients, or Senate, of 
250 members, composed of men above forty years of age, 
and a Council of Five Hundred, or Lower House, with 
which rested the initiative in legislation. 
directress (di-rek'tres), n. [< director + -ess.] 
A female director ; a directrix. 
directrix (di-rek'triks), n. [= F. directrice = 
It. direttrice, < NL. directrix, fern, of director: 
see director.} 1. A woman who governs or 
directs. 2. In math., a fixed line, whether 
straight or not, that is required for the descrip- 
tion of a curve or surf ace. 3. In gun., the cen- 
ter line in the plane of fire of an embrasure or 
platform. Tidball. See embrasure. Directrix 
Of a conic, a line from which the distance of the variable 
point on the conic bears a constant ratio to the distance 
of the same point from a given focus ; the polar of a focus. 
Directrix of electrodynamlc action of a given cir- 
cuit, the magnetic force due to the circuit. 
direful (dir'ful), a. [< dire + -ful. 1, irreg. suf- 
fixed to an adj.] Characterized by or fraught 
with something dreadful ; of a dire nature or 
appearance : as, a direful fiend ; a direful mis- 
fortune. 
Saturn combust, 
With direful looks at your nativity, 
Beheld fair Venus in her silver orb. 
Greene, James IV., i. 
=Syn. See list under dire. 
direfully (dir'ful-i), adv. Dreadfully ; terribly; 
woefully. 
direfulness (dir'ful-nes), n. The state of being 
direful; dreadfulness ; calamitousuess. 
The direfulness of this pestilence is more emphatically 
set forth in these few words than in forty such odes as 
Sprat's on the plague at Athens. J. Warton, Essay on Pope. 
direlyt (dlr'li), adv. In a dire manner; fear- 
fully. 
And of his death he direly had forethought. 
Draylon, David and Goliath. 
diremptt (di-rempf), v. t. [< L. diremptus, pp. 
of dirimere (> It. dirimere = Sp. Pg. dirimir = F. 
dirimer), take apart, part, separate, < dig-, apart, 
+ emere, take. Cf . adempt, exempt, redemption.} 
To separate by violence; put asunder; break 
off. 
He writ the iudiciall examination for a prouiso : that if 
either part refused to stand to his arbitrament, the diflni- 
tiue strife might be dirempted by sentence. 
Holinshed, Conquest of Ireland, xxxiii. 
diremptt (di-rempf), a. [< L. diremptus, pp. : 
see the verb.] Parted; separated. Stow. 
-' 
1638 
direptiont (di-rep'shon), n. [< L. direptio(n-), 
< diripere, pp. direptus, tear asunder or away, 
ravage, < di- for dis-, asunder, + rapere, snatch. 
Cf. correction.'} A plundering or ravaging ; rob- 
bery. 
This lord for some direptions being cast 
Into close prison. 
lleywood, Hierarchy of Angels, p. 615. 
You shall " suffer with joy the direption of your goods," 
because the best part of your substance is in heaven. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 126. 
direptitlOUSt (dir-ep-tish'us), a. [After surrep- 
titious (q. v.), < L. direptus, pp. of diripere, tear 
away: see direption.} Relating to or of the na- 
ture of direption. E. D. 
direptitiouslyt (dir-ep-tish'us-li), adv. By way 
of direption or robbery. 
Grants surreptitiously and direptitiously obtained. 
Strype, Memorials, an. 1532. 
dirge (derj), n. [Sc. also dirgie, etc. (see dir- 
gie); < ME. dirge, dorge, dyrge, dirige, deregy, 
f uneral service, the office for the dead ; so called 
asunder. [Rare.] 2. In vot. , same as chorisis. 
[Not used.] 
direness (dir'nes), n. Terribleness ; horrible- 
ness; tearfulness. 
Direness, familiar to my slaught'rous thoughts, 
Cannot once start me. Shak., Macbeth, v. 5. 
from an antiphon therein sung beginning "Z>j- 
ri(/e, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo vi- 
am meam" (Direct, O Lord my God, my way 
in thy sight), the words being taken from the 
Psalms ("Domine . . . dirige in conspectu 
tuo viam meam"; Vulgate, Ps. v. 8) : L. dirige, 
impv. of dirigere, make straight, direct: see di- 
rect. In ME. the dirge or dirige is often men- 
tioned in connection with the placebo, so named 
for a similar reason.] A funeral hymn ; the fu- 
neral service as sung; hence, a song or tune 
expressing grief, lamentation, and mourning. 
Resort, I pray you, vnto my sepulture, 
To sing my dirige with great deuocion. 
lamentation of Mary Magdalene, 1. 641. 
And ouer vt he ordeyned ther, to be contynued for euer. 
one day in y e weke, a solempne dirige to be songe, and 
vpon y fl morowe a masse. Fabyan, Chron., an. 1422. 
With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage, 
In equal scale weighing delight and dole. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 2. 
First will I sing thy dirge, 
Then kiss thy pale lips, and then die myself. 
Beau, and Fl., Knight of Burning Pestle, iv. 4. 
As the first anthem at matins commenced with "Dirige," 
. . . the whole of the morning's service, including the 
Mass, came to be designated a " Dirige" or Dirge. 
Hock, Church of our Fathers, ii. 503. 
=Syn. Dirge, Requiem, Elegy, lament, threnody, coro- 
nach. The first three are primarily and almost uniformly 
suggested by the death of some person. A dirge or a re- 
quiem may be only music or may be a song. An elegy is 
a poem, which may or may not be sung. A requiem, be- 
ing originally sung for the repose of the soul of a deceased 
person, retains a corresponding character when the music 
does not accompany words. 
A dark-haired virgin train 
Chanted the death-dtr(7e of the slain. 
Longfellow, Burial of the Minnisink. 
The silent organ loudest chants 
The master's requiem. Emerson, Dirge. 
Now change your praises into piteous cries, 
And Eulogies turne into Elegies. 
Spenser, Tears of the Muses, 1. 372. 
dirge-alet (derj'al), n. Awake, or funeral gath- 
ering, at which ale was served. Also called 
soul-ale. See dirgie. 
With them the superfluous numbers of idle wakes, 
guilds, fraternities, church-ales, helpe-ales, and soule- 
ales, called also dirge-ales, with the heathenish rioting at 
bride-ales, are well diminished and laid aside. 
Holinshed, Description of England, ii. 1. 
dirgee, n. See durjee. 
dirgeful(d6rj'ful),<z. [< dirge + -ful, 1.] Fune- 
real; wailing; mournful. 
Soothed sadly by the dirgeful wind. Coleridge. 
dirgie (der'ji), n. [Sc., also written dergie, 
dergy, and transposed drigie, dregie, dredgie, = 
E. dirge, < ME. dirge, dyrge, dirige, deregy, etc., 
the service for the dead: see dirge.} A fu- 
neral company; entertainment at a funeral. 
Selden. 
dirhem, n. See derham. 
Dirichlet's principle. See principle. 
diriget, . A Middle English form of dirge. 
dirigent (dir'i-jent), a. and n. [= F. dirigeant 
= bp. Pg. It. dirigente, < L. dirigen(t-)s, ppr. of 
dirigere, direct: see direct.} I. a. Directing; 
serving to direct: formerly applied, in chem- 
istry, to certain ingredients in prescriptions 
which were supposed to guide the action of the 
rest. 
II. n. In geom., the line of motion along 
which the describent line or surface is carried 
in the generation of any plane or solid figure ; 
the directrix. 
dirigible (dir'i-ji-bl), a. [< L. as if *dirigibttis, 
< dirigere, direct: see direct.} That may be 
directed, controlled, or steered. 
Front and Side 
Views of Scottish 
Highland Dirk. 
An occasion- 
dirt 
It is stated by the London ' ' Engineering " that a dirigi- 
ble balloon of colossal dimensions has been for some time 
in course of construction in Berlin. Science, VIII. 367. 
dirigo (dir'i-go). [L. : 1st pers. sing. pres. ind. 
act. of dirigere, direct: see direct.} I guide or 
direct: the motto on the arms of the State of 
Maine, 
dirigo-motor (dir'i-g6-m6"tpr), a. Productive 
of muscular motion, and directing that motion 
to an end. 
Certain inferior dirigo-motor acts are unconscious ; but 
omitting these, the law is that with each muscular con- 
traction there goes a sensation more or less definite. 
11. Spencer, Prin. of Psychol., 46. 
diriment (dir'i-ment), a. [< L. dirimen(b-}s, 
ppr. of dirimere: see dirempt, v.} Nullifying. 
Diriment impediments of marriage, in the Rom. 
Cath. Ch., such impediments as render marriage null and 
void from the very beginning, as consanguinity, affinity, 
certain crimes, etc. 
Bishops . . . may often dispense from certain diriment 
impediments as apostolic delegates. Cath. Diet., p. 436. 
dirk 1 (derk), . [Formerly also durk; < Ir. duirc, 
a dirk, poniard.] A stabbing weapon ; a dag- 
ger. Especially (o) The long and 
heavy dagger worn as a part of the 
equipment of the duniwassal, or gentle- 
man, among the Celtic Highlanders of 
Scotland. It had different forms at dif- 
ferent times. The more modern style 
has a scabbard with one or two minor 
sheaths in it for small knives. 
He took the engagement ... in the 
only mode and form which ... he con- 
sidered as binding he swore secrecy 
upon his drawn dirk. 
Scott, Waverley, Ixv. 
(fc) The common side-arm of a midship- 
man in the British naval service. It is 
usually straight, but is sometimes a 
very short, curved cutlas. 
dirk 1 (derk), v. t. [< dirk*, .] 
To poniard ; stab. 
I thought of the Ruthvens that were 
dirked in their ain house, for it may be 
as small a forfeit. 
Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, iii. 
And dirked his foe with his own hand. 
The Century, XXVII. 329. 
dirk 2 t (derk), a., n., adv., and v. 
al Middle English and Scotch form of dark*. 
Chaucer. 
I praye thee, speake not so dirke ; 
Such myster saying me seemeth to mirke. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., September. 
dirk-knife (derk'nif), n. A large clasp-knife 
with a dirk-like blade. 
dirknesst, . An obsolete form of darkness. 
Chaucer. 
dirl (dirl), v. i. [So., = E. drill, pierce: see 
drill*, thrill.} 1. To thrill. 2. To vibrate or 
shake, especially with reverberation ; tremble. 
He screwed his pipes and gart them skirl, 
Till roof and rafters a' did dirl. 
Burns, Tarn o' Shanter. 
dirl (dirl), n. [< dirl, v.} A blow such as 
produces a tingling sensation or a quavering 
sound; the sensation or sound itself; vibra- 
tion. [Scotch.] 
I threw a noble throw at ane ; . . . 
It just played dirl on the bane. 
Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook. 
Dirochelyoidae (di-rok"e-li-oi'de), n. pi. [NL., 
< Dirochelys + -ida;.} A subfamily of tortoises, 
named by Agassiz, in the form Deirochelyoidai, 
in his family Emydoidce, from the genus Di- 
rochelys. 
Dirochelys (di-rok'e-lis), . [NL., < Gr. ieipf/, 
neck, + ;te/t>f, tortoise.] A genus of tortoises, 
alone representing the Dirochelyoida', having 
an elongated flexible neck, webbed feet, and 
a movable plastron. Also Deirochelys. 
dirt (dert), n. and a. [Formerly also spelled 
durt; transposed from ME. drit (= MD. drijt, 
D. dreet = Icel. drit, mod. dritr), excrement: 
see drit, drite.} I. n. 1. Any foul or filthy sub- 
stance, as excrement, mud, mire, orpitch; what- 
ever, adhering to anything, renders it foul, un- 
clean, or offensive. 
The wicked arc like the troubled sea, . . . whose waters 
cast up mire and dirt. Isa. Ivii. 20. 
And being downe, is trodde in the durt 
Of cattell, and brouzed, and sorely hurt. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., February. 
Thou shouldst have heard . . . how he beat me because 
her horse stumbled ; how she waded through the dirt to 
pluck him off me. Shak., T. of the S., iv. 1. 
2. Earth, especially loose earth; disintegrated 
soil, as in gardens ; hence, any detrital or dis- 
integrated material. [Colloq., U. S.] 
The love of dirt Is among the earliest passions. 
C. It. Warner, My Summer iu a Garden. 
