recte

English

Etymology

From Latin recte (“rightly, correctly”).

Adverb

recte (not comparable)

1. Used parenthetically in a verbatim quotation to correct an error in the source (compare sic, which notes an error without correcting it)
   • 1924 December 31, Robert Dunlop and Geo. O'Brien, "An Unpublished Survey of the Plantation of Munster in 1622", The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Sixth Series, Vol. 14, No. 2 p.132:

     The Seignory of Castleton, containing 200 (sic, query recte 12,000) acres

   • 1972 T. P. O'Neill (ed.) Private Sessions of Second Dáil (Dublin) 26 August 1921

     ELECTION OF GRAND COUNCIL [ recte COMMITTEE ]

   • 1974 Edmund Colledge THE CAPGRAVE 'AUTOGRAPHS', Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, Vol. 6, No. 3, p.142:

     Here is a list of errors not observed by the corrector.

     193: and (recte 'as')

     735: a quartere (add 'ȝеге')

     796: noblel (recte 'noble' or 'nobel')

     1527: him (recte 'hem')

     2455: holid (? recte 'helid')

Further reading

• Victor Mair, Recte!, Language Log, February 13, 2022

Anagrams

• -crete, Crete, erect, terce

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈre̞k.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈrɛk.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈrɛk.te]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin rēctus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós (“straightened, right”).

Adjective

recte (feminine recta, masculine and feminine plural rectes)

1. straight (not crooked or bent)

   Synonym: dret

   Antonym: corb

Adverb

recte

1. straight

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin rēctum.

Noun

recte m (plural rectes)

1. (anatomy) rectum

Derived terms

• rectal

Further reading

• “recte”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “recte”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “recte” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “recte”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós

Proto-Italic *rektos

Proto-Italic *-ēd

Proto-Italic *rektēd

Latin rēctē

Inherited from Proto-Italic *rektēd. By surface analysis, rectus (“guided, kept straight”) + e (“-ly: forming adverbs”).

Adverb

rēctē (comparative rēctius, superlative rēctissimē)

1. in an upright position, vertically

   Antonyms: oblique, transverse

2. without error, accurately, correctly

   Antonyms: prave, falso, perperam

3. with good reason, justifiably

   Antonyms: absurde, perperam

4. in accordance with truth or fact, rightly

   Antonym: falso

5. in accordance with the law, legitimately, lawfully

   Synonyms: iure, legitime, ex lege

   Antonym: contra legem

6. according to the rules, correctly

   Antonyms: vitiose, mendose

7. with equity, justly, fairly

   Synonyms: aeque, iuste

   Antonyms: inique, iniuste

8. with moral rectitude, rightly

   Synonym: honeste

   Antonym: turpiter

9. properly, thoroughly, well

   Antonym: inepte

Participle

rēcte

1. vocative masculine singular of rēctus

References

• Oxford Latin Dictionary
• “recte”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “recte”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) you were right in...; you did right to..: recte, bene fecisti quod...
    
  • (ambiguous) a good conscience: conscientia recta, recte facti (factorum), virtutis, bene actae vitae, rectae voluntatis
    
  • (ambiguous) to congratulate oneself on one's clear conscience: conscientia recte factorum erigi
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: et recte (iure, merito)
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: et recte (iure) quidem
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: recte, iure id quidem
    

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós

Proto-Italic *rektos

Proto-Italic *-ēd

Proto-Italic *rektēd

Latin rectelbor.

Romanian recte

Learned borrowing from Latin recte.

Adverb

recte

1. recte