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Directly vs Nonlinear - What's the difference?

directly | nonlinear |

As an adverb directly

is in a direct manner; in a straight line or course.

As a conjunction directly

is as soon as.

As an adjective nonlinear is

(of a set of points) not lying on a straight line.

directly

English

Adverb

(en adverb)
  • In a direct manner; in a straight line or course.
  • In a straightforward way; without anything intervening; not by secondary, but by direct means.
  • Plainly, without circumlocution or ambiguity; absolutely; in express terms.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
    • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage="Mujtahidd" has attracted almost 300,000 followers since the end of last year, when he began posting scandalous claims about the Saudi elite. In one tweet, Mujtahidd directly challenged Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd about his political history: "Did you resign or were you forced to resign from your post as head of the diwan [office] of the council of ministers?"}}
  • Exactly; just.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,
  • Straightforwardly; honestly.
  • (label) Immediately.
  • (label) Soon; next; when it becomes convenient.

    • Antonyms

    * indirectly

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • As soon as.
  • * 1982 , (Lawrence Durrell), Constance'', Faber & Faber 2004 (''Avignon Quintet ), p. 725:
    • Tenderly, reluctantly, he took his leave of her, promising that he would contact her directly he got back, perhaps in ten days or so.
  • * 2009 , Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall , Fourth Estate 2010, p. 463:
    • He is to go to Calais, directly this is over, to replace Lord Berners as governor [...].

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    *

    nonlinear

    English

    Alternative forms

    * non-linear

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (of a set of points) not lying on a straight line
  • (chemistry, of a molecule) whose atoms do not lie in a straight line
  • (mathematics, of a function) having a product of independent variables, or a variable with an exponent not equal to one
  • (of a system) whose output is not directly proportional to its input
  • erratic and unpredictable; tending to jump back and forth
    • a film with a nonlinear plot

    Antonyms

    * linear

    Derived terms

    * nonlinearity