Airted

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Directed or guided someone or something toward a particular course, destination, or goal, as in Scots usage
2. Pointed or steered a person or object in a chosen direction, often in an older or regional sense
3. Aimed or set the course of something toward a specific end, a usage found in Scottish and older English

Etymology: "Airted" is the past tense and past participle of "airt," a Scots verb meaning to direct or guide someone or something toward a particular place or goal. Scots is the Lowland Scots dialect, and "airt" is one of its characteristic words for directing a course, so the verb is most at home in Scottish speech and writing. The noun "airt" has a related sense, a direction or quarter of the compass, and that older meaning explains the verb. To airt something is to set it facing a given point, so a person who airts a question or a stray traveller is pointing them in a chosen direction. The past form "airted" therefore describes something that has already been set on its heading, whether a ship, a conversation, or a child sent toward school.

Synonyms: direct, guide