The Etymology of Address
Every time you write an address on an envelope, you are performing the word's original meaning: directing something towards its destination.βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ English borrowed 'address' from Old French adrecier in the fourteenth century, when it meant 'to direct, guide, or make ready'. The Old French verb combined a- (from Latin ad-, 'towards') with drecier ('to straighten'), descended from Latin directus ('straight'). For centuries, 'to address' meant to direct one's efforts or words β a knight addressed himself to combat, a speaker addressed an audience. The postal sense only crystallised in the seventeenth century, when systematic mail delivery made 'the address' β the place you directed a letter β a fixed concept. The same root also gave English 'dress' (to arrange) and 'redress' (to set right again), all sharing that core notion of straightening or directing.