destro

Forms

destro (feminine destra, masculine plural destri, feminine plural destre)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dexter (“right; favourable; skilful”).^[2][3][4][1] Already in antiquity Latin had the variant dester, from which the popular Italian forms come, as do Old French destre, Old Occitan destre and Catalan destre.^[5]

The same word is Spanish diestro, Portuguese destro and Sardinian destru.^[3][6][5] In the sense “right” French and Spanish replaced it with words meaning “straight”, French droite and Spanish derecha.^[3]

The Latin word continues Proto-Italic *dekstero-, from Proto-Indo-European *deḱs-tero- (“right, right-hand side”).^[7] The suffix marks one of a pair of opposites.^[2] Related forms are Ancient Greek δεξιτερός (dexiterós) and Ancient Greek δεξιός (dexiós, “on the right”).^[7][3] Nocentini traces them to a root meaning “to receive”, and Stüber, cited by de Vaan, sees in them a noun meaning “what is fitting”, the source of decet (“it is fitting”).^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur of the last quarter of the 12th century, and the LEI has destro lato “right side” in the Ritmo laurenziano before 1198.^[8][5] DELI's first record is in Uguccione da Lodi, at the beginning of the 13th century, with the sense “on the side of the liver”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The right side was the favoured one, and the word took on positive senses: Dante uses it for what lies to the right of a point and for “favourable”, a sense that goes back to the Roman augurs, who watched whether birds flew to the right or to the left.^[2][5][9] “Skilful, able” is recorded before 1348 in Francesco da Barberino, and the noun destro “opportunity” before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca.^[2]

From “convenience” the noun came to mean a privy, a sense of the 15th century that is now archaic.^[10][11][12] In sport it is a punch with the right fist in boxing and the right foot, or a shot with it, in football.^[11][1]

The feminine destra became a noun, “right hand” in Dante; its political sense, the right, comes from the seating of the French assembly in 1793 and is recorded in Italian in 1851.^[2] The verb addestrare “to train” is formed on destro “skilful”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1175–1200 – The Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur have the word.^[8]
• Before 1198 – The Ritmo laurenziano has destro lato.^[5]
• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses destro for the side of the liver.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “favourable”.^[2]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses the noun for “opportunity”.^[2]
• Before 1348 – Francesco da Barberino uses it for “skilful”.^[2]
• 1851 – Destra is recorded for the political right.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Right: on the side of the body opposite the heart: l’occhio destro.^[4][11][1]
2. On the right of the person looking; of a river bank, on the right as one faces downstream.^[4][11]
3. (figurative) Quick, skilful, dexterous: destro di mano.^[4][11][1]
4. Shrewd, clever; fitting, effective.^[4]
5. (archaic) Straight, right, also morally.^[4][11][1]
6. (archaic) Favourable, propitious.^[4][11][1]

Noun

1. An opportunity: cogliere il destro.^[11][1]
2. (boxing) A right;^[11][1] (football) the right foot, or a shot with it.^[11][1]
3. (archaic) A privy, latrine; the need to relieve oneself.^[11][1][10]

Word family

• addestrare
• destreggiare
• destrezza
• destrimano
• destrismo
• destrogiro
• destra
• destrorso
• destrosio
• addestramento
• ambidestro
• destramente

Related words

• destriero
• sinistro
• Latin dexter

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 116
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1265
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 372