dextra

Forms

dextra f (genitive dextrae); first declension^[1] It is also written dextera, the fuller form.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is the feminine of dexter (“right”), with ⟨manus⟩ “hand” understood.^[2][3] dexter goes back to Proto-Italic *dekstero- and Proto-Indo-European *deḱs-tero- (“right, right-hand side”).^[4]

Cognate (through that word) with Oscan destrst (“is right”), Ancient Greek δεξιτερός (dexiterós, “right”), Sanskrit दक्षिण (dákṣiṇa, “right”), Lithuanian dẽšinas (“right”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃𐍅𐌰 (taihswa, “right”) and Old Irish dess (“right, south”).^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] who has per dexteram tuam tē … ōrō, “I beg you by your right hand”.^[2] Terence has cedo dextram, “give me your right hand”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Dextra is the right hand, the hand that holds weapons, that is grasped in greeting or in a promise, and that does most work.^[2][3][1] By metonymy it is a soldier (Silius Italicus), and a metal hand or pair of clasped hands sent as a token of friendship (Nepos, Tacitus).^[2] It is a pledge or contract (Cicero: dexterae quae fideī testēs esse solēbant, “right hands, which used to be witnesses of good faith”), and with prepositions the right-hand side: ā dexterā, ad dexteram, “on the right”.^[2][3]

Its ablative dextrā is an adverb, “on the right”, and in post-Augustan Latin a preposition with the accusative, “on the right of” (Livy: dextrā viam strātam).^[2][3][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: per dexteram tuam.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: cedo dextram.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: dexterae quae fideī testēs esse solēbant.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses dextrā with the accusative.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The right hand.^[2][3][1][6]
2. A soldier.^[2]
3. A model of a hand sent as a token of friendship.^[2]
4. A pledge, promise, contract.^[2][3]
5. ā dexterā, ad dexteram: on the right-hand side.^[2]

Adverb

1. dextrā: on the right;^[2][3][1] (with accusative) on the right of.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• dexter
• sinistra
• laeva

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson