destra

Forms

destra f (plural destre)^[1] Old Italian forms include destera, dextra and dresta.^[2]

Etymology

The noun is the feminine of destro used as a noun: inherited from Latin dextera (“right hand”), short for “right hand” with manus (“hand”) understood.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} Zingarelli calls it a learned word.^[8] The LEI explains the popular Italo-Romance forms from the Latin variant ⟨dester⟩, which also gave Old French destre (about 1148), Old Occitan destre and Spanish diestro.^[9] Spanish also has diestra for the right hand.^[5]

Other Romance languages, and Italian in the phrase ⟨man dritta⟩, use a word for “straight” instead: French droite and derecha, from Latin dīrēctus.^[5][10] The political sense was copied from the French noun.^[5] Right and left took on their political meaning in France in 1793, from the place members sat in relative to the president of the assembly.^[3]

In Latin ⟨dexter⟩ the suffix ⟨-ter⟩ marks a contrast of two.^[3] Its cognates include Ancient Greek δεξιτερός (dexiterós) and δεξιός (dexiós), Sanskrit दक्षिण (dákṣiṇa), Lithuanian dešinas, Old Irish dess and Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍈𐍃𐍅𐌰 (taihswa).^[10][11] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *deḱs-tero- (“right, right-hand side”).^[11] Nocentini connects the root with *dek- (“to receive”) and decet (“it is fitting”), the right being the proper side.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto, written before 1274, for the hand on the right side of the body, the hand that does fine work and holds the sword.^[2] DELI dates the sense “the side on the right” to Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Dante writes in the Purgatorio of counting letters con le dita della destra scempie (“with the fingers of my right hand spread”).^[12] In Old Italian the right hand stood for a promise, a welcome, power and favour, and chiedere destra meant to look for a good opportunity.^[2] Tasso used the word for the east.^[4]

The political sense is recorded in 1851, for the conservative members who sat to the right of the president of parliament.^[3] The Destra storica was the moderate liberal party, formed under Cavour, that governed Italy until 1876.^[13] The word then spread to the conservative wing of any party or school of thought, as in la destra hegeliana.^[14][8] In heraldry it is the side of the shield on the viewer's left, and hunters use it for the right barrel of a double-barrelled gun.^[4][8]

Timeline

• Before 1274 – Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto gives the first record.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses destra for the right hand.^[3]
• 1793 – Right and left take on their political sense in France.^[3]
• 1851 – The political sense is recorded in Italian.^[3]
• 1876 – The Destra storica loses power.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. The right hand: Gli strinse la destra e lo ringraziò.^[4][14][15]
2. The right side or direction: Al semaforo gira a destra.^[4][14][15]
3. (politics) The seats to the right of the president in parliament, and the conservative members and parties that sit there.^[4][14][15]
4. (politics) The conservative wing of a party or movement.^[14][8][13]
5. (heraldry) The dexter side of a shield, on the viewer's left.^[4][8][13]
6. (hunting) The right barrel of a double-barrelled gun.^[4][8]

Word family

• addestrare
• destrismo
• destroide
• ultradestra

Related words

• destro
• destriero
• Latin dexter

Usage notes

Common phrases are tenere la destra (to keep to the right), dare la destra (to let someone walk on one's right as a mark of respect) and a destra e a sinistra (on all sides).^[8][13][6]

Tommaseo records a separate nautical destra, a heavy rope used to hold a ship across the wind or current.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
6. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 20, 116
10. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 268
13. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 2, 112