Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Direction \Di*rec"tion\, n. [L. directio: cf. F. direction.]
   1. The act of directing, of aiming, regulating, guiding, or
      ordering; guidance; management; superintendence;
      administration; as, the direction o? public affairs or of
      a bank.

            I do commit his youth To your direction. --Shak.

            All nature is but art, unknown to thee; ll chance,
            direction, which thou canst not see.  --Pope.

   2. That which is imposed by directing; a guiding or
      authoritative instruction; prescription; order; command;
      as, he grave directions to the servants.

            The princes digged the well . . . by the direction
            of the law giver.                     --Numb. xxi.
                                                  18.

   3. The name and residence of a person to whom any thing is
      sent, written upon the thing sent; superscription;
      address; as, the direction of a letter.

   4. The line or course upon which anything is moving or aimed
      to move, or in which anything is lying or pointing; aim;
      line or point of tendency; direct line or course; as, the
      ship sailed in a southeasterly direction.

   5. The body of managers of a corporation or enterprise; board
      of directors.

   6. (Gun.) The pointing of a piece with reference to an
      imaginary vertical axis; -- distinguished from elevation.
      The direction is given when the plane of sight passes
      through the object. --Wilhelm.

   Syn: Administration; guidance; management; superintendence;
        oversight; government; order; command; guide; clew.

   Usage: {Direction}, {Control}, {Command}, {Order}. These
          words, as here compared, have reference to the
          exercise of power over the actions of others. Control
          is negative, denoting power to restrain; command is
          positive, implying a right to enforce obedience;
          directions are commands containing instructions how to
          act. Order conveys more prominently the idea of
          authority than the word direction. A shipmaster has
          the command of his vessel; he gives orders or
          directions to the seamen as to the mode of sailing it;
          and exercises a due control over the passengers.

Source : WordNet®

direction
     n 1: a line leading to a place or point; "he looked the other
          direction"; "didn't know the way home" [syn: {way}]
     2: the spatial relation between something and the course along
        which it points or moves; "he checked the direction and
        velocity of the wind"
     3: a general course along which something has a tendency to
        develop; "I couldn't follow the direction of his
        thoughts"; "his ideals determined the direction of his
        career"; "they proposed a new direction for the firm"
     4: something that provides direction or advice as to a decision
        or course of action [syn: {guidance}, {counsel}, {counseling},
         {counselling}]
     5: the act of managing something; "he was given overall
        management of the program"; "is the direction of the
        economy a function of government?" [syn: {management}]
     6: a message describing how something is to be done; "he gave
        directions faster than she could follow them" [syn: {instruction}]
     7: the act of setting and holding a course; "a new council was
        installed under the direction of the king" [syn: {steering},
         {guidance}]
     8: a formal statement of a command or injunction to do
        something; "the judge's charge to the jury" [syn: {commission},
         {charge}]
     9: the concentration of attention or energy on something; "the
        focus of activity shifted to molecular biology"; "he had
        no direction in his life" [syn: {focus}, {focusing}, {focussing},
         {centering}]