DIRECTORY, a term meaning literally that which guides or directs, and so applied to a book or set of rules giving directions for public worship. The _directorium_ or _ordo_ of the Roman Church contains regulations as to the Mass and office to be used on each day throughout the year, and the word is found in the _Directory for the Publick Worship of God_ drawn up in 1644 at the Westminster Assembly. The term now usually signifies a book containing the names, addresses and occupations, &c. of the inhabitants of a town or district, or of a similar list of the users of a telephone supply, or of the members of a particular profession or trade. The name _Directoire_ or Directory was given to the body which held the executive power in France from October 1795 until November 1799 (see FRENCH REVOLUTION).
DIRGE, a song or hymn of mourning, particularly one sung at funerals or at a Service in commemoration of the dead. It is derived from the first word of the antiphon _"Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam"_ (Guide, O Lord, my God, my way in Thy sight), of the opening psalm in the office for the dead in the Roman Church. The antiphon is adapted from verse 8 of Psalm v.
DIRK, a dagger, particularly the heavy dagger carried by the Highlanders of Scotland. The dirk as worn in full Highland costume is an elaborately ornamented weapon, with cairngorms or other stones set in the head of the handle, which has no guard. Inserted in the sheath there may be two small knives. The dirk, in the shape of a straight blade, with a small guard, some 18 in. long, is worn by midshipmen in the British navy. The origin of the word is doubtful. The earlier forms were _dork_ and _durk_, and the spelling _dirk_, adopted by Johnson, represents the pronunciation of the second form. The name seems to have been early applied to the daggers of the Highlanders, but the Gaelic word is _biodag_, and the Irish _duirc_, often stated to be the origin, is only an adaptation of the English word. It may be a corruption of the German _Dolch_, a dagger. The suggestion that it is an application of the Christian name "Dirk," the short form of "Dieterich," is not borne out, according to the _New English Dictionary_, by any use of this name for a dagger, and is further disproved by the earlier English spelling.