dexter

See also: Dexter

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dexter, from Proto-Indo-European *deḱs(i)-tero-, from *deḱs- (“right”) (Pokorny, Watkins, 1969; et al.). Compare Epic Greek δεξιτερός (dexiterós, “right hand”), δεξιός (dexiós, “right”), Old Church Slavonic деснъ (desnŭ, “right”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛkstə/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

dexter (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Right; on the right-hand side.

   Antonym: sinister

   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene v], column 2:

     my Mothers bloud / Runs on the dexter checke, and this ſiniſter / Bounds in my fathers:

   • 1887, George William Foote; J. M. Wheeler, Crimes of Christianity, London: Progressive Publishing:

     Displaying his dexter palm, he exclaimed that there was a hand that never took a bribe; whereupon a smart auditor cried "How about the one behind your back?"

   • 1911, Saki, ‘The Match-Maker’, The Chronicles of Clovis:

     Clovis wiped the trace of Turkish coffee and the beginnings of a smile from his lips, and slowly lowered his dexter eyelid.

Translations

right

• Bulgarian: десен (bg) (desen)
• Danish: højre (da), højre side, dexter (heraldry), heraldisk højre (heraldry)
• Finnish: oikeanpuoleinen (fi)
• German: dexter (de), rechts (de), rechtsseitig (de)

• Italian: destro (it)
• Portuguese: destro (pt) m
• Telugu: కుడి (te) (kuḍi)

Noun

dexter (plural dexters)

1. (heraldry) The right side of a shield from the wearer's standpoint, and the left side to the viewer.
2. The right hand.

Translations

heraldic "right"

• Finnish: oikea (fi)

• Swedish: dexter (sv), heraldisk höger c, höger (sv) c

See also

• sinister

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Latin

Alternative forms

• dester (Vulgar or Late Latin, Pompeian inscriptions)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *deksiteros, from Proto-Indo-European *deḱsi-tero-s, from *deḱs- (“right”). Cognate with Ancient Greek δεξιός (dexiós), Old High German zesawa (“right hand, right hand side”), Sanskrit दक्षिण (dákṣiṇa).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈdek.ster/, [ˈd̪ɛks̠t̪ɛr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈdek.ster/, [ˈd̪ɛkst̪er]

Adjective

dexter (feminine dextra or dextera, neuter dextrum or dexterum, comparative dexterior, superlative dextimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er; two different stems)

1. right (relative direction), right hand

   Antonyms: laevus, scaevus, sinister

2. skillful
3. fortunate, favorable
4. proper, fitting

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er; two different stems).

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	dexter	dextra dextera	dextrum dexterum		dextrī dexterī	dextrae dexterae	dextra dextera
Genitive	dextrī dexterī	dextrae dexterae	dextrī dexterī		dextrōrum dexterōrum	dextrārum dexterārum	dextrōrum dexterōrum
Dative	dextrō dexterō		dextrō dexterō		dextrīs dexterīs
Accusative	dextrum dexterum	dextram dexteram	dextrum dexterum		dextrōs dexterōs	dextrās dexterās	dextra dextera
Ablative	dextrō dexterō	dextrā dexterā	dextrō dexterō		dextrīs dexterīs
Vocative	dexter	dextra dextera	dextrum dexterum		dextrī dexterī	dextrae dexterae	dextra dextera

Derived terms

• dextere
• dextrē
• dexteritās
• dextrāle n, dextrāliolum n
• dextrōrsum, dextrōrsus, dextrōversum
• ambidexter

Related terms

• dextral

Descendants

• Asturian: diestru
• Catalan: destre
• Dalmatian: diastro
• English: dexter (borrowing)
• Esperanto: dekstra
• French: dêtre (dialectal, archaïc), destre (language of heraldry), dextre (borrowing or revival of the Middle French word)
• Friulian: diestri
• Galician: destro
• German: Dextrose
• Ido: dextra
• Interlingua: dextre
• Italian: destro

• Norman: dêtre, dêt'e
• Occitan: dèstre
• Old French: destre
• Portuguese: destro
• Romanian: dextru (borrowing), zestre
• Sicilian: destru
• Spanish: diestro, diestra

References

• “dexter”, in Charlton T[homas] Lewis; Charles [Lancaster] Short (1879) […] A New Latin Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company; Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• “dexter”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• dexter in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to give one's hand to some one: manum (dextram) alicui porrigere
    
  • (ambiguous) to give one's right hand to some one: dextram alicui porrigere, dare
    
  • (ambiguous) to shake hands with a person: dextram iungere cum aliquo, dextras inter se iungere