command vs direct

command

verb
  • To order, give orders; to compel or direct with authority. 

  • To require with authority; to demand, order, enjoin. 

  • to dominate through ability, resources, position etc.; to overlook. 

  • To hold, to control the use of. 

  • To exact, compel or secure by influence; to deserve, claim. 

  • To have or exercise supreme power, control or authority over, especially military; to have under direction or control. 

noun
  • power of control, direction or disposal; mastery. 

  • A directive to a computer program acting as an interpreter of some kind, in order to perform a specific task. 

  • The right or authority to order, control or dispose of; the right to be obeyed or to compel obedience. 

  • An order to do something. 

  • Dominating situation; range or control or oversight; extent of view or outlook. 

  • A command performance. 

  • A position of chief authority; a position involving the right or power to order or control. 

  • A body or troops, or any naval or military force, under the control of a particular officer; by extension, any object or body in someone's charge. 

  • The degree of control a pitcher has over his pitches. 

  • The act of commanding; exercise or authority of influence. 

direct

verb
  • To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order. 

  • To manage, control, steer. 

  • To aim (something) at (something else). 

  • To point out to or show (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way. 

adj
  • having a single flight number. 

  • Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end. 

  • Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates. 

  • Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous. 

  • Proceeding without deviation or interruption. 

  • Straightforward; sincere. 

  • In the line of descent; not collateral. 

  • In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; said of the motion of a celestial body. 

adv
  • Directly. 

How often have the words command and direct occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )