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Webster 1913 Edition

Address

Ad-dress′

(ăd-drĕs′)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Addressed
(-drĕst′)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Addressing
.]
[OE.
adressen
to raise erect, adorn, OF.
adrecier
, to straighten, address, F.
adresser
, fr.
à
(L.
ad
) + OF.
drecier
, F.
dresser
, to straighten, arrange. See
Dress
,
Verb.
]
1.
To aim; to direct.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
And this good knight his way with me
addrest
.
Spenser.
2.
To prepare or make ready.
[Obs.]
His foe was soon
addressed
.
Spenser.
Turnus
addressed
his men to single fight.
Dryden.
The five foolish virgins
addressed
themselves at the noise of the bridegroom’s coming.
Jer. Taylor.
3.
Reflexively: To prepare one's self; to apply one's skill or energies (to some object); to betake.
These men
addressed
themselves to the task.
Macaulay.
4.
To clothe or array; to dress.
[Archaic]
Tecla . . .
addressed
herself in man's apparel.
Jewel.
5.
To direct, as words (to any one or any thing); to make, as a speech, petition, etc. (to any one, an audience).
The young hero had
addressed
his players to him for his assistance.
Dryden.
6.
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; to accost.
Are not your orders to
address
the senate?
Addison.
The representatives of the nation
addressed
the king.
Swift.
7.
To direct in writing, as a letter; to superscribe, or to direct and transmit;
as, he
addressed
a letter
.
8.
To make suit to as a lover; to court; to woo.
9.
(Com.)
To consign or intrust to the care of another, as agent or factor;
as, the ship was
addressed
to a merchant in Baltimore
.

Ad-dress′

(ăd-drĕs′)
,
Verb.
I.
1.
To prepare one's self.
[Obs.]
“Let us address to tend on Hector's heels.”
Shak.
2.
To direct speech.
[Obs.]
Young Turnus to the beauteous maid
addrest
.
Dryden.
☞ The intransitive uses come from the dropping out of the reflexive pronoun.

Ad-dress

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
adresse
. See
Address
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
Act of preparing one's self.
[Obs.]
Jer Taylor.
2.
Act of addressing one's self to a person; verbal application.
3.
A formal communication, either written or spoken; a discourse; a speech; a formal application to any one; a petition; a formal statement on some subject or special occasion;
as, an
address
of thanks, an
address
to the voters
.
4.
Direction or superscription of a letter, or the name, title, and place of residence of the person addressed.
5.
Manner of speaking to another; delivery;
as, a man of pleasing or insinuating
address
.
6.
Attention in the way one's addresses to a lady.
Addison.
7.
Skill; skillful management; dexterity; adroitness.
Syn. – Speech; discourse; harangue; oration; petition; lecture; readiness; ingenuity; tact; adroitness.

Webster 1828 Edition

Address

ADDRESS'

,
Verb.
T.
[This is supposed to be from L. dirigo.]
1.
To prepare; to make suitable dispositions for.
Turnus addressed his men to single fight.
2.
To direct words or discourse; to apply to by words; as, to address a discourse to an assembly; to address the judges.
3.
To direct in writing; as a letter; or to direct and transmit; as he addressed a letter to the speaker. Sometimes it is used with the reciprocal pronoun, as, he addressed himself to the speaker, instead of, he addressed his discourse. The phrase is faulty; but less so than the following. To such I would address with this most affectionate petition.
Young Turnus to the beauteous maid aldrest.
The latter is admissible in poetry, as an elliptical phrase.
4.
To present an address, as a letter of thanks or congratulation, a petition, or a testimony of respect; as, the legislature addressed the president.
5.
To court or make suit as a lover.
6.
In commerce, to consign or entrust to the care of another, as agent or factor; as, the ship was addressed to a merchant in Baltimore.

Definition 2024

address

address

English

Noun

address ‎(plural addresses)

  1. Direction or superscription of a letter, or the name, title, and place of residence of the person addressed.
  2. Act of addressing oneself to a person or group; a discourse or speech.
    • 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, VII:
      Mr. Gregson, who had listened to this address with considerable impatience, could contain himself no longer.
  3. Manner of speaking to another; delivery.
    a man of pleasing or insinuating address‎
  4. Attention in the way one addresses a lady.
  5. Skill; skillful management; dexterity; adroitness.
    • 1813, "Customs, Manners, and present Appearance of Constantinople", The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature for the year 1812, p. 179 (Google preview):
      At their turning-lathes, they employ their toes to guide the chisel; and, in these pedipulations, shew to Europeans a diverting degree of address.
  6. (obsolete) Act of preparing oneself.
  7. A description of the location of a property.
    • 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.‎
  8. (by extension) The property itself.
    I went to his address but there was nobody there‎
  9. (computing) A location in computer memory.
    The program will crash if there is no valid data stored at that address.‎
  10. (Internet) An Internet address; URL.

Derived terms

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

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.
    • (Can we date this quote?), John Dryden
      Young Turnus to the beauteous maid addrest.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To aim; to direct.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Edmund Spenser
      And this good knight his way with me addrest.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To prepare or make ready.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Edmund Spenser
      His foe was soon addressed.
    • (Can we date this quote?), John Dryden
      Turnus addressed his men to single fight.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Jeremy Taylor
      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. (transitive, archaic) To clothe or array; to dress.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Jewel
      Tecla ... addressed herself in man's apparel.
  7. (transitive) To direct, as words, to (anyone or anything); to make, as a speech, petition, etc. to (any audience).
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden
      The young hero had addressed his players to him for his assistance.
    He addressed some portions of his remarks to his supporters, some to his opponents.‎
  8. (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; to accost.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Addison
      Are not your orders to address the senate?
    • (Can we date this quote?) Jonathan Swift
      The representatives of the nation addressed the king.
    • 2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:
      Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. […] Children address teachers by their first names. Even 15-year-olds do no more than 30 minutes' homework a night.
  9. (transitive) To direct in writing, as a letter; to superscribe, or to direct and transmit.
    He addressed a letter.‎
  10. (transitive) To make suit to as a lover; to court; to woo.
  11. (transitive) To consign or intrust to the care of another, as agent or factor.
    The ship was addressed to a merchant in Baltimore.‎
  12. (transitive) To address oneself to; to prepare oneself for; to apply oneself to; to direct one's speech or discourse to.
    • 2012 March 1, 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.)
  13. (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."
  14. (intransitive, computing) To refer a location in computer memory.
  15. (golf, transitive) To get ready to hit (the ball on the tee).

Usage notes

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

Translations

Etymology

From Middle English adressen ‎(“to raise erect, adorn”), from Old French adrecier ‎(“to straighten, address”) (modern French adresser), from a- (Latin ad ‎(“to”)) + drecier (modern French dresser ‎(“to straighten, arrange”)) < Vulgar Latin *directiāre, from Latin directus ‎(“straight or right”), from the verb dīrigĕre, itself from regĕre ‎(“to govern, to rule”).

Pronunciation

  • Noun:
    • (UK) enPR: ədrĕsʹ, IPA(key): /əˈdɹɛs/
    • (US) enPR: ăʹdrĕs, IPA(key): /ˈæˌdɹɛs/
    • (US, in some senses) enPR: ədrĕsʹ, IPA(key): /əˈdɹɛs/
  • Verb:
    • (UK) enPR: ədrĕsʹ, IPA(key): /əˈdɹɛs/
    • (US) enPR: ədrĕsʹ, ădrĕsʹ, IPA(key): /əˈdɹɛs/, /ˌæˈdɹɛs/
    • (US, rare) enPR: ăʹdrĕs, IPA(key): /ˈæˌdɹɛs/
  • Rhymes: -ɛs

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