Dexteral

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to or favoring the right side or right hand; describing organisms or objects that exhibit right-handedness or clockwise orientation; relating to the right-hand side in anatomical or directional terms
2. Characteristic of being right-sided or right-handed; indicating a tendency toward clockwise rotation or dextral coiling in biological and physical contexts; associated with the right half or right direction in a spatial sense
3. Referring to the right as opposed to the left side; denoting a preference for using the right hand or a rightward orientation; applied to describe right-handedness or rightward spiraling in nature and anatomy

Etymology: "Dexteral" comes from Latin "dexter," meaning "right" or "on the right-hand side." The adjective-forming suffix "-al," meaning "relating to" or "characterised by," turns that root into a description of something that tends toward the right, whether a physical lean or a political one. The same Latin root gives English "dexterity," which once meant right-handedness, the hand most people use for fine work. Heraldry keeps the older spatial sense alive: "dexter" names the right side of a shield from the perspective of the person carrying it, which is the viewer's left.

Synonyms: right-handed

Antonyms: sinistral, left-handed