dexteritas

Forms

dexteritās f (genitive dexteritātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dexter (“right, on the right”) + -tās.^[2][1][3] dexter goes back to Proto-Italic *dekstero- and Proto-Indo-European *deḱs-tero- (“right, right-hand side”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Livy, 59 BC–17 AD, praises Scipio's affability and his natural readiness of mind for every situation: ad omnia naturalis ingenii dexteritas.^[5][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The classical sense is an adroit readiness to help or oblige others;^[2][3][7] Livy pairs it with humanitas.^[2][3][7] Aulus Gellius uses it of kindliness, glossing a Greek word for humanity.^[3][8] Arnobius applies it to gods who send favourable signs on the right, as opposed to those on the left.^[7][9] Later it meant skill or dexterity in general,^[9][10] and it was common in Neo-Latin authors.^[11] English dexterity came through French in the 1520s.^[12]

Timeline

• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of Scipio's readiness to oblige.^[5][6]
• c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses it of humane kindliness.^[3][6]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of the favourable power of omens on the right.^[7][6]
• 1520s – English borrows dexterity through French.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. Readiness to help or oblige; adroitness in dealing with people.^[2][5][7]
2. Dexterity, skill.^[9][10][13]
3. (Late Latin) Favourableness (of omens from the right); prosperity.^[7][9][5]

Related words

• dexter
• English dexterity

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli