Rightwise

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /ˈɹaɪtwaɪz/

Definitions

1. In the direction that follows the movement of clock hands or considered correct according to tradition
2. Proceeding or oriented according to the natural clockwise course or a conventionally accepted manner
3. Moving or arranged in a way that aligns with the sequence of clock hands or regarded as proper and appropriate

Etymology: "Rightwise" is an adverb whose modern survival is mostly in the phrase that follows clock hands, but its older life was in moral language. It descends from Old English "rihtwīs," meaning righteous, just, or justifiable, built from "right" and the suffix "-wise," which denotes manner or direction. The same word, through a shift in its final syllable, gave us the modern "righteous," which is the more familiar descendant. The adverb sense is a separate, later development in which "rightwise" was used to mean in the way that is correct or according to custom, and from there to the clockwise direction. The spelling "righteous" arose because the second element was reshaped to resemble the common suffix "-ous," so the word that once described a just person and a correct manner split into two forms whose connection is now easy to miss.

Synonyms: correctly, rightfully

Antonyms: wrongfully