E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Direc’tory.
The French constitution of 1795, when the executive was vested in five persons called directors, one of whom retired every year. After a sickly existence of four years, it was quashed by Napoleon Bonaparte. An alphabetical list of the inhabitants, etc., of a given locality, as a “London Directory.”
