directory

/dəˈrɛkɾəri/

/daɪˈrɛktɔri/

Other forms: directories

A directory is a type of catalog, an organized list of people or businesses and how to contact them. If you need to find your lab partner's phone number, check the school directory.

An old-fashioned phone book is a directory, an alphabetical list of the people in your city or town, along with their phone number and address. These days such a directory is more often found online. In computing, a directory is also known as a folder, and it contains information about how data is stored in a computer. In the 16th century, a directory was a book of religious guidelines and rules. Directory comes from a Latin root meaning "to set straight."

Definitions of directory

1. noun

   an alphabetical list of names and addresses
   types:

   phone book, phonebook, telephone book, telephone directory

   a directory containing an alphabetical list of telephone subscribers and their telephone numbers

   blue book

   a register of persons who are socially prominent

   white pages

   a telephone directory or section of a directory (usually printed on white paper) where the names of people are listed alphabetically along with their telephone numbers

   yellow pages

   a telephone directory or section of a directory (usually printed on yellow paper) where business products and services are listed alphabetically by field along with classified advertising

   type of:

   book of facts, reference, reference book, reference work

   a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts
2. noun

   (computer science) a listing of the files stored in memory (usually on a hard disk)
   types:

   subdirectory

   (computer science) a directory that is listed in another directory

   type of:

   list, listing

   a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics)