address

pronunciation

How to pronounce address in British English: UK [əˈdres] word uk audio image

How to pronounce address in American English: US [əˈdres] word us audio image

Noun:

(computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored
the place where a person or organization can be found or communicated with
the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
the manner of speaking to another individual
a sign in front of a house or business carrying the conventional form by which its location is described
written directions for finding some location; written on letters or packages that are to be delivered to that location
the stance assumed by a golfer in preparation for hitting a golf ball
social skill
Verb:

speak to
give a speech to
put an address on (an envelope, for example)
direct a question at someone
address or apply oneself to something, direct one's efforts towards something, such as a question
greet, as with a prescribed form, title, or name
access or locate by address
deal with verbally or in some form of artistic expression
speak to someone
adjust and aim (a golf ball) at in preparation fo hitting

Word Origin

address: address: [14] Address originally meant ‘straighten’. William Caxton, for example, here uses it for ‘stand up straight’: ‘The first day that he was washed and bathed he addressed him[self] right up in the basin’ Golden Legend 1483. This gives a clue to its ultimate source, Latin dīrectum ‘straight, direct’. The first two syllables of this seem gradually to have merged together to produce *drictum, which with the addition of the prefix ad- was used to produce the verb *addrictiāre.Of its descendants in modern Romance languages, Italian addirizzare most clearly reveals its source. Old French changed it fairly radically, to adresser, and it was this form which English borrowed. The central current sense of ‘where somebody lives’ developed in the 17th and 18th centuries from the notion of directing something, such as a letter, to somebody.=> direct

address (v.): early 14c., "to guide or direct," from Old French adrecier "go straight toward; straighten, set right; point, direct" (13c.), from Vulgar Latin *addirectiare "make straight," from Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + *directiare, from Latin directus "straight, direct" (see direct (v.)). Late 14c. as "to set in order, repair, correct." Meaning "to write as a destination on a written message" is from mid-15c. Meaning "to direct spoken words (to someone)" is from late 15c. Related: Addressed; addressing.

address (n.): 1530s, "dutiful or courteous approach," from address (v.) and from French adresse. Sense of "formal speech" is from 1751. Sense of "superscription of a letter" is from 1712 and led to the meaning "place of residence" (1888).

vt.