dextre

Forms

dextre (plural dextres)^[1] Old French destre^[2][3], Anglo-Norman also deistre.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dextra (“right hand”) or dextera, the feminine of dexter (“on the right, skilful”).^[2][5][3][6] The learned word replaced the inherited Old French destre, found as a noun “right hand” and as an adjective “right” in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) and still used in the 16th century.^[2][3][7][5]

Rey analyses the Latin word as an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *deks- “right” with the suffix -ter that marks one of two sides, as in sinister; the same root is seen in Ancient Greek δεξιός (dexiós) and Lithuanian dẽšinas.^[5] In augury the Latin adjective came to mean “favourable”, and it also meant “skilful”, the right hand being the able one.^[5] The Old French word is cognate with Italian destro, Old Occitan destre, Catalan destre, Spanish diestro and Portuguese destro.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicole Oresme's translation of Aristotle's Ethics has la main dextre “the right hand” (1370–1372): la main dextre est la meilleur et la plus vigoreuse “the right hand is the better and the stronger”.^[2][9] The GLLF dates Oresme's use to about 1361.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The learned form at first lived beside destre, which kept its place until the 16th century.^[3][7] It then met strong competition from droit, adroit and the noun droite, so that dextre “right hand” was already archaic in the 17th century and is now used only as a deliberate archaism or in jest.^[5][3][10] The sense “deft, skilful” is also old-fashioned.^[2][9]

The adjective survives in technical use: in heraldry for the right side of the shield, and in zoology (from Littré, 1864) for a shell that coils from left to right.^[7][2][9]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The inherited form destre appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][9]
• 1370–1372 – Oresme writes la main dextre.^[2]
• 16th century – Destre is still in use beside dextre.^[3][7]
• 17th century – Dextre “right hand” is already archaic.^[3]
• 1864 – Littré is cited for the zoological sense of a shell.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (heraldry) On the right-hand side of the escutcheon, that is, on the viewer's left.^{[11][6][2][9]}
2. (zoology) Of a shell: coiling from left to right, clockwise.^{[10][11][2][6]}
3. (archaic) On the right side of the body: la main dextre.^[2][6]
4. (archaic) Deft, dexterous.^[2][9][1]

Noun

1. (archaic or humorous) The right hand, as opposed to sénestre: Il leva sa dextre pour prêter serment.^{[10][12][11][6]}
2. (archaic) À dextre: on the right.^[9]

Word family

• dextrement

Related words

• ambidextre
• dextérité
• destrier
• droit
• Latin dexter

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)