Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell directory

Directory is spelled D-I-R-E-C-T-O-R-Y. Director plus Y: the -TOR ending stays, di-rec-TO-ry.

What it means: A list of names and addresses in order.

In a sentence: Mom uses a directory to find phone numbers. ▶

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Same family: direction, directly, director, redirect, indirect. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Directory comes from the Latin root 'directus', meaning 'straight' or 'guided', plus the noun-forming ending '-ory'. It originally referred to a guidebook giving directions, and later narrowed to mean a list of names and addresses organized for easy reference.

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

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