Talk:dexter
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Rfv-sense of the noun:
- (heraldry) The right side of a shield from the wearer's standpoint, which is the left side for the viewer.
- The right hand.
We don't have a noun section at sinister, and when I checked if one could be attested (no, I can't find any hits of the plural apart from two OCR errors where the printed book has sinister a but the scan thought it was sinisters), I realized I can't attested dexter ("right hand side") as a noun, either, because all the examples ("Two emblematical figures, viz. the dexter, a female proper", "Beyond the two kings on each side is a demi figure of a man at arms , the dexter holds a banner of arms") look like the adjective (and as you can see, not restricted to applying to the dexter side of a shield, but the right of any set of things), and I can't find plural examples. (Am I wrong?) I also can only find one cite where it seems to mean "the right hand", others are scannos conflating different columns. - -sche (discuss) 15:44, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
- the trick is to look for the dexter/sinister of, apparently. For dexter [1] [2] [3] (with to its sinister on the same page for the last one), for example. Haven't looked too closely yet, but both are definitely citable.
- (also, the common noun senses should be changed to the right/left side, instead of the right/left hand.) 蒼鳥 fawk. tell me if i did anything wrong. 08:06, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
- Fascinating! I wouldn't have thought to look for uses unrelated to heraldry meaning the right side of things like the building the first link is about ("on the dexter of the court"); that's different from the senses currently listed. I've been assuming the definition "right hand" means literally a right hand, btw, comparable to dextrochere being a right arm; if "right-hand side" is meant, that needs to be clarified, as you say. - -sche (discuss) 21:31, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
- Oh yeah, I was looking at general uses (as I don't know much about heraldry). Only the last one of the three is talking about heraldic design, I think. 蒼鳥 fawk. tell me if i did anything wrong. 18:24, 15 May 2023 (UTC)
- Fascinating! I wouldn't have thought to look for uses unrelated to heraldry meaning the right side of things like the building the first link is about ("on the dexter of the court"); that's different from the senses currently listed. I've been assuming the definition "right hand" means literally a right hand, btw, comparable to dextrochere being a right arm; if "right-hand side" is meant, that needs to be clarified, as you say. - -sche (discuss) 21:31, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
- I've merged the "right side of a shield" sense into the new, more general sense 1. The "right hand" sense has one cite of a dexter holding something, if anyone can find two more... or that one cite may be an error for dextrochere (compare e.g. the various things eyrant is an error for in heraldry: erect, hauriant,...). - -sche (discuss) 15:09, 27 June 2023 (UTC)
- "Right side" passed; "right hand" failed with the one cite (possibly an error for detrochere) moved to the cites page. - -sche (discuss) 19:57, 17 July 2023 (UTC)