dextrorse

English

Etymology

From Latin dextrorsum, contracted from dextrovorsum, dextroversum (“toward the right side”), from dexter (“right”) + versus, vorsus, past participle of vertere, vortere (“to turn”).

Adjective

dextrorse (comparative more dextrorse, superlative most dextrorse)

1. Turning from the left to the right, in the ascending line, as in the spiral inclination of the stem of the morning glory.
2. (geometry) Having a negative torsion.

Usage notes

• At present scientists predicate dextrorse or sinistrorse quality of the plant regarded objectively; formerly the plant was regarded subjectively, and what is now called dextrorse was then considered sinistrorse.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “dextrorse”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Antonyms

• sinistrorse