directive, a. (n.)
(dɪˈrɛktɪv, daɪ-)
[ad. med.L. dīrectīv-us, f. dīrect- ppl. stem of dīrigĕre to direct: see -ive. In F. directif, -ive (13–14th c.), Sp. and Pg. directivo, It. direttivo ‘having or giving direction vnto, directiue’ (Florio 1598).]
A. adj.
1. a. Having the quality or function of directing, authoritatively guiding, or ruling: see direct v.
| 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. viii. (1611) 18 A law therefore generally taken, is a directiue rule vnto goodnesse of operation. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. 245 To the power Directive they ought to be subject. 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 414 The..directive conscience tells us what we are to do, and the subsequent or reflexive conscience warns us what we are to receive. 1712 Berkeley Passive Obed. §7 Laws being rules directive of our actions. 1729 Savage Wanderer v. 656 No friendly stars directive beams display. 1853 M. Kelly tr. Gosselin's Power Pope II. 364 The directive power of the Church. 1861 Mill Utilit. ii. 16 Utility or Happiness, considered as the directive rule of human conduct. |
† b. Law. = directory a. b. Obs.
| 1610 Bp. Carleton Jurisd. 166 His meaning is by lawes directiue..that Princes haue no coactiue power ouer the Clergie but onely power directiue. a 1649 Winthrop New Eng. (1826) II. 205 There is a threefold power of magistratical authority, viz. legislative, judicial, and consultative or directive of the public affairs of the country. 1698 R. Ferguson View Eccles. 30 He fulfilled the Directive Part of the Law..he likewise underwent the Penalty of it. |
2. Having the quality, function, or power of directing motion; causing something to take a particular direction in space.
(Used especially of the force by which a magnet takes a north and south direction.)
| 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. iii. (1635) 44 The vertue Directiue, by which a needle touched with the Magnet, directs and conformes it selfe North and South. 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 437 The Verticity or Directive faculty of the Loadstone. 1794 S. Williams Vermont 377 The directive power of the magnet. 1842–3 Grove Corr. Phys. Forces 65 It is..directive, not motive, altering the direction of other forces, but not..initiating them. 1881 Maxwell Electr. & Magn. II. 70 The directive action of the earth's magnetism on the compass needle. |
† 3. Subject to direction. Obs. rare.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 356 Limbes are his instruments, In no lesse working, then are Swords and Bowes Directive by the Limbes. |
B. n. † (a) That which directs. Obs. (b) spec. a general instruction how to proceed or act.
| 1642 Rogers Naaman To Rdr. §2 That directive of minde, and freedome of pure will that kept him. 1654 Z. Coke Logick (1657) 35 Spirituall Vertue..is..the common directive of all other vertues. |
| 1902 Encyl. Brit. XXXIII. 647/1 The ecclesiastical régime..arrogates to itself the right of interfering by means of ‘Directives’ with the political life of nations. 1910 Ibid. II. 603/2 A few simple orders called ‘directives’ sufficed to set armies in motion with a definite purpose before them. 1941 Economist 15 Feb. 209/2 The actual handling of news items [by the B.B.C.] is subject to ‘directives’ or advice from Government departments. 1941 Manch. Guardian Weekly 14 Mar. 214/4 You would think it enough to call an order a direction. No, he [sc. the Civil Servant] has to make it ‘a directive’. 1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze ii. 52 A ‘Directive’ in Service parlance is a form of order, setting out one's terms of reference, defining one's responsibilities, and showing the extent and limitations of one's authority. 1971 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Apr. 34/1 This authorization of September 1970 made official a practice which long preceded the issuance of the directive. |
Hence diˈrectively adv., in a directive manner, so as to direct or guide; diˈrectiveness, the quality of being directive.
| 1642 Milton Observ. his Majesty's late Answ. & Expresses 44 Those..that allow humane Laws to obleage Kings more then directively. 1653 Baxter Chr. Concord 79 If a Presbyter may not Govern directively, then he may not Teach. 1710 Norris Chr. Prud. ii. 74 Prudence..actually directs and conducts men in the management of themselves..and this actual Directiveness is of the very essence of Prudence. 1858 Bushnell Serm. New Life 374 God will co-work..directively in all the great struggles of believing souls. |
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▸ Also with capital initial. In European Law: a mandate from the European Union (or, in earlier use, the European Community or the European Economic Community) requiring member states to enact legislation achieving specified results by a particular date.
| 1957 tr. Treaty establishing European Econ. Community 149 The Council and the Commission shall adopt regulations and directives... Directives shall bind any Member State to which they are addressed, as to the result to be achieved, while leaving domestic agencies a competence as to form and means. 1975 Daily Tel. 7 May 12/4 Under an EEC directive..it would be illegal for speedometers to under-read at all. 1986 Financial Times 28 Feb. i. 12/2 The Government is urgently considering legislation to comply with the ruling of the European Court..that Britain's different retirement ages for men and women breach EEC directives. 1993 J. Shaw European Community Law v. 112 Directives amount only to obligations of result, not obligations of conduct. However, the implementation of Directives is a positive obligation for the Member States. 2001 Ecologist May 22/2 The Ministry..could not change its plan as it was set in stone, dictated by EU directives. |