direction

\di.ʁɛk.sjɔ̃\

/\di.ʁɛk.sjɔ̃\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“direction” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #565 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#565
frequency rank, French
9
letters
13
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Action de diriger, de régler l’exécution d’une action, d'administrer un établissement ou de conduire une personne.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

direction vs director
78% similar
direction vs directive
78% similar
direction vs directions
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for direction
PropertyValue
Headworddirection
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\di.ʁɛk.sjɔ̃\
Letters9
Frequency rank#565
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “direction” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). direction lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for direction is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \di.ʁɛk.sjɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #565 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for direction, with forms such as "ddirection", "dierction", and "dircetion". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "director", "directive", "directions", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is direction, spelled D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action de diriger, de régler l’exécution d’une action, d'administrer un établissement ou de conduire une personne.
  2. 2
    Fonction, poste de directeur.
  3. 3
    Personne ou ensemble des personnes qui dirigent.
  4. 4
    Service placé sous l'autorité d’un directeur.
  5. 5
    Ensemble de bureaux où sont installés un directeur et ses collaborateurs.
  6. 6
    Étendue de la compétence d’un directeur, circonscription qui relève de son autorité.
  7. 7
    Côté vers lequel une personne ou une chose se dirige, est dirigée ou tournée ; voie suivie pour arriver à un point donné.
  8. 8
    Orientation donnée à une entreprise, à une action, une politique, etc. ; manière dont elle se développe.
  9. 9
    Droite suivant laquelle se déplace ou s’oriente un corps, s’exerce une force.
  10. 10
    Adopter une bonne, une mauvaise conduite.
  11. 11
    Ensemble des organes qui permettent d'orienter les roues directrices.
  12. 12
    Fonction de directeur de conscience, qui guide par ses conseils la vie spirituelle d’une personne.
  13. 13
    Propriété commune à des droites parallèles, ou à des objets portés par des droites parallèles tels que des segments ou des demi-droites, ou propriété d’un vecteur.

Synonyms

axe

This word in other languages

administration(English)dirección(Español)Führung(Deutsch)direção(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddirection,dierction,dircetion,direcction,direciton,directino,directionn,directoin,directtion,diretcion,dirrection,driection,idrection

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of direction - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ddirection1dierction2dircetion2direcction1direciton2directino2directionn1directoin2
Edit distance from "direction"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "direction"?
"direction" is spelled D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \di.ʁɛk.sjɔ̃\.
What does "direction" mean?
As a noun, "direction" means: Action de diriger, de régler l’exécution d’une action, d'administrer un établissement ou de conduire une personne.
What words are commonly confused with "direction"?
"direction" is commonly confused with "director", "directive", "directions". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "direction"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "direction" is \di.ʁɛk.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "direction" come from?
"direction" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “direction”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \di.ʁɛk.sjɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “director” - see the side-by-side comparison. direction vs director
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list