direction
/dɪˈɹɛk.ʃən/noun
direction is spelled D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N. The wrong spelling people search most is direccion: about 360 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 22 of all searches for the word. Direction is a noun meaning “A theoretical line (physically or mentally) followed from a point of origin or towards a destination. May be…”. The plural of direction is directions.
How many letters and syllables are in direction?
| Letters | 9: D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 85 times per million words; the 1,251st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, direccion, about 360 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell direction?
Direction is spelled D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 22 of the searches for direction in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is direction?
Direction appears 85 times per million words in written English, the 1,251st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce direction?
- US /dɪˈɹɛk.ʃən/
- US /daɪˈɹɛk.ʃən/
- Australia /dɪˈɹek.ʃən/
Direction has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-direction.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-direction.wav, En-us-direction.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with direction?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as direction from its last stressed vowel (/ɛkʃən/):
- section
- detection
- perfection
- complexion
- deflection
- interconnection
- imperfection
- flexion
- interjection
- dejection
- circumspection
- bisection
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of direction
- directions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does direction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 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).
Keep going in the same direction.
- 2
A general trend for future action.
- 3
Guidance, instruction.
The trombonist looked to the bandleader for direction.
- 4
The work of the director in cinema or theater; the skill of directing a film, play etc.
The screenplay was good, but the direction was weak.
- 5
datedThe body of persons who guide or manage a matter; the directorate.
- 6
archaicA person's address.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate direction?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of direction: dir.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Direction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | direction |
| German | Kurs, Richtung , Hinweis, Anweisung, Führung |
| Portuguese | direção |
| Spanish | dirección |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does direction come from?
From Middle English direccioun, from Old French direccion, from Latin dīrēctiō. Equivalent to direct + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).