address

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English adressen (“to raise erect, adorn”), from Old French adrecier (“to straighten, address”) (modern French adresser), from a- (from Latin ad (“to”)) + drecier (modern French dresser (“to straighten, arrange”)), from Vulgar Latin *dīrectiō, from Latin dīrēctus (“straight or right”), from the verb dīrigō, itself from regō (“to govern, to rule”). Cognate with Spanish aderezar (“to garnish; dress (food); to add spices”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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address (plural addresses)

  1. Direction.
    1. (obsolete) Guidance; help. [15th–17th c.]
    2. (chiefly in the plural, now archaic) A polite approach made to another person, especially of a romantic nature; an amorous advance. [from 16th c.]
      • 1723, Richard Steele, The Lover and Reader, page 115:
        [H]e was thus agreeable, and I neither insensible of his Perfections, nor displeased at his Addresses to me […] .
    3. A manner of speaking or writing to another; language, style. [from 16th c.]
      a man of pleasing or insinuating address
    4. A formal approach to a sovereign, especially an official appeal or petition; later (specifically) a response given by each of the Houses of Parliament to the sovereign's speech at the opening of Parliament. [from 17th c.]
    6. An act of addressing oneself to a person or group; a discourse or speech, or a record of this. [from 17th c.]
      • 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, section VII:
        Mr. Gregson, who had listened to this address with considerable impatience, could contain himself no longer.
      • 1889, Margaret Oliphant, The Portrait:
        I watched her without knowing, with a prevision that she was going to address me, though with no sort of idea as to the subject of her address.
    8. A description of the location of a property, usually with at least a street name and number, name of a town, and now also a postal code; such a description as superscribed for direction on an envelope or letter. [from 17th c.]
      • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
        Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.
      The President's address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.
    9. (by extension) The property itself. [from 19th c.]
      I went to his address but there was nobody there.
    10. (computing) A number identifying a specific storage location in computer memory; a string of characters identifying a location on the internet or other network; sometimes (specifically) an e-mail address. [from 20th c.]
      The program will crash if there is no valid data stored at that address.
  2. Preparation.
    1. (now rare) Preparedness for some task; resourcefulness; skill, ability. [from 16th c.]
      • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.i:
        This is one bad effect of a good Character—it invites applications from the unfortunate and there needs no small degree of address to gain the reputation of Benevolence without incurring the expence.—
      • 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 129:
        The warmth of Father Pedro's constitution had formerly drawn him into some scrapes from which it required all his address to disengage himself, and rendered him exceedingly cautious ever after.
      • 1813, “Customs, Manners, and present Appearance of Constantinople”, in The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature for the year 1812, page 179:
        At their turning-lathes, they employ their toes to guide the chisel; and, in these pedipulations, shew to Europeans a diverting degree of address.
    2. (obsolete) The act of getting ready; preparation. [17th–18th c.]
      • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes:
        But now again she makes address to speak.
    3. (golf, Scotland) The act of bringing the head of the club up to the ball in preparation for swinging. [from 19th c.][1]

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Tok Pisin: adres
  • → Bole: adireshi
  • → Cebuano: adres
  • → Sinhalese: ඇඩ්‍රස් (æḍras)
  • → Tagalog: adres

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked‌: "formal communication (are we missing a sense?)"

Verb

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address (third-person singular simple present addresses, present participle addressing, simple past and past participle addressed or (obsolete) addrest)

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To prepare oneself.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To direct speech.
    • 1697, Virgil, “Virgil’s Æneis, Book VII”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 402:
      Young Turnus to the Beaubteous Maid addreſs’d.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To aim; to direct.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To prepare or make ready.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14:
      His foe was soone addrest.
    • 1697, Virgil, “Virgil’s Æneis, Book X”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 517:
      Then Turnus, from his chariot, leaping light, Addreſs’d himſelf on foot to ſingle fight.
    • 1649, Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar of Sanctity and Holy Life According to the Christian Institution:
      The five foolish virgins addressed themselves at the noise of the bridegroom's coming.
  5. (transitive, reflexive) To prepare oneself; to apply one's skill or energies (to some object); to betake.
  6. (reflexive) To direct one’s remarks (to someone).
    • 1701, Thomas Brown, Laconics, or New Maxims of State and Conversation, London: Thomas Hodgson, section 76, p. 103,[1]
      In the Reign of King Charles the Second, a certain Worthy Divine at Whitehall, thus Address’d himself to the Auditory at the conclusion of his Sermon.
    • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Emperor of Lilliput, Attended by Several of the Nobility, Come to See the Author in His Confinement. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 30:
      There were ſeveral of his Prieſts and Lawyers preſent, (as I conjectured by their habits) who were commanded to addreſs themſelves to me, and I ſpoke to them in as many Languages as I had the leaſt ſmattering of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spaniſh, Italian, and Lingua Franca; but all to no purpoſe.
    • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 11, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
      He addressed himself directly to Miss Bennet, with a polite congratulation […]
    • 1876, Henry Martyn Robert, Robert’s Rules of Order‎[2], Chicago: S.C. Griggs & Co., p. 66, Article V, Section 34:
      When any member is about to speak in debate, he shall rise and respectfully address himself to “Mr. Chairman.”
  7. (transitive, archaic) To clothe or array; to dress.
    Synonyms: beclothe, dight, put on; see also Thesaurus:clothe
    • 1566–67, John Jewel, “The Defence of the Apology”, in The Works of John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, volume 4, Cambridge: University of Cambridge, published 1845, page 651:
      Likewise Vincentius, and Petrus de Natalibus, and others your writers and recorders of fables could have told you that Tecla sometime addressed herself in man's apparel, and, had she not been forbidden by St Paul, would have followed him in company as a man.
  8. (Discuss(+) this sense) (transitive) To direct, as words (to anyone or anything); to make, as a speech, petition, etc. (to any audience).
    • 1697, Virgil, “Dedication [of the Æneis]”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page [187]:
      though the young Heroe had addreſs’d his Prayers to him for his aſſiſtance
    He addressed some portions of his remarks to his supporters, some to his opponents.
  9. (transitive) To direct speech to; to make a communication to, whether spoken or written; to apply to by words, as by a speech, petition, etc., to speak to.
  10. (transitive) To direct in writing, as a letter; to superscribe, or to direct and transmit.
    He addressed a letter.
  11. (transitive) To make suit to as a lover; to court; to woo.
    Synonyms: romance, put the moves on; see also Thesaurus:woo
  12. (transitive) To consign or entrust to the care of another, as agent or factor.
    The ship was addressed to a merchant in Baltimore.
  13. (transitive) To address oneself to; to prepare oneself for; to apply oneself to; to direct one's speech, discourse or efforts to.
    • 1990, Stephen King, The Moving Finger:
      He stepped away from the sink, put up the toilet ring (Vi complained bitterly if he forgot to put it down when he was through, but never seemed to feel any pressing need to put it back up when she was), and addressed the John.
    • 2012 March, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 128:
      Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)
  14. (transitive, formal) To direct attention towards a problem or obstacle, in an attempt to resolve it.
    • 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian:
      "By all means we want people to use social media, but we do not want you to use it in ways that will incite violence," said Jonathan Toy, Southwark council's head of community safety. "This remains a big issue for us and without some form of censorship purely focusing on [violent videos], I'm not sure how we can address it."
    • 2020 December 2, Mark Phillips, “Rebuilding Rail in the 2020s”, in Rail, page 46:
      Formerly [sic: Formally] known as the Rail Safety and Standards Board, the not-for-profit organisation's remit includes managing and developing Railway Group Standards on behalf of the rail industry, leading the development of long-term safety strategy, and supporting cross-industry groups that address major areas of safety risk.
  15. (transitive, computing) To refer to a location in computer memory.
  16. (transitive, golf, Scotland) To get ready to hit (the ball on the tee).[1]

Usage notes

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  • The intransitive uses can be understood as omission of the reflexive pronoun.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “address, v., n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

Scots

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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address (plural addresses)

  1. an address

Verb

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address (third-person singular simple present addresses, present participle addressin, simple past addressed, past participle addressed)

  1. to address

References

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