dexterity

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

Borrowed from Middle French dextérité, from Latin dexteritas, from dexter (“on the right”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛksˈtɛɹɪti/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

dexterity (countable and uncountable, plural dexterities)

1. Skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands.
   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎^[1]:

     She removed Stranleigh’s coat with a dexterity that aroused his imagination. The elder woman returned with dressings and a sponge, which she placed on a chair.

   Playing computer games can improve your manual dexterity.

   She twirled the pencil through her fingers with impressive dexterity.

Related terms

• dexterous
• ambidextrous

Translations

skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands

• Bulgarian: сръчност (bg) f (srǎčnost), ловкост (bg) f (lovkost)
• Catalan: destresa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 機巧／机巧 (zh) (jīqiǎo), 机巧 (zh) (jīqiǎo), 靈巧／灵巧 (zh) (língqiǎo), 灵巧 (zh) (língqiǎo)

• Czech: zručnost f, šikovnost f
• Danish: fingerfærdighed c
• Dutch: handigheid (nl)
• Finnish: näppäryys (fi), taitavuus (fi)
• French: dextérité (fr) f
• Georgian: მოხერხებულობა (moxerxebuloba), სიმარჯვე (simarǯve), ოსტატურობა (osṭaṭuroba), გაწაფულობა (gac̣apuloba), სიმკვირცხლე (simḳvircxle), შნო (šno)
• German: Fingerfertigkeit f, Geschicklichkeit (de) f, Gewandtheit f
• Greek: επιδεξιότητα (el) f (epidexiótita), δεξιοσύνη (el) f (dexiosýni), επιτηδειότητα (el) f (epitideiótita), μαστοριά (el) f (mastoriá)
• Hebrew: זריזות f, גמישות (he) f, מיומנות (he) f, קלות תנועה
• Hungarian: kézügyesség (hu), ügyesség (hu), fürgeség (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: ketangkasan (id)
• Italian: destrezza (it)
• Japanese: 器用さ (ja) (きようさ, kiyōsa), 素早さ (すばやさ, subayasa)
• Latin: agilitās f, pernīcitās f
• Lithuanian: miklumas m
• Macedonian: спретност f (spretnost), умешност f (umešnost)
• Persian: چیره‌دستی (fa) (čire-dasti), زبردستی (fa) (zebar-dasti), تردستی (fa) (tar-dasti)
• Polish: zręczność (pl) f, zwinność (pl) f
• Portuguese: destreza (pt) f
• Romanian: dexteritate (ro) f, îndemânare (ro) f, iscusință (ro) f, dibăcie (ro) f, abilitate (ro) f
• Russian: ло́вкость (ru) f (lóvkostʹ), сноро́вка (ru) f (snoróvka), прово́рность (ru) f (provórnostʹ), прово́рство (ru) n (provórstvo), подви́жность (ru) f (podvížnostʹ)
• Slovak: zručnosť, obratnosť
• Spanish: destreza (es) f
• Swedish: skicklighet (sv) c, fingerfärdighet (sv) c
• Telugu: నైపుణ్యము (te) (naipuṇyamu)