dexter

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Right

   Right; on the right-hand side. (In heraldry, specifically the bearer's right, which is the viewer's left.)

   • my Mothers bloud / Runs on the dexter checke, and this ſiniſter / Bounds in my fathers:
   • Displaying his dexter palm, he exclaimed that there was a hand that never took a bribe; whereupon a smart auditor cried "How about the one behind your back?"
   • Clovis wiped the trace of Turkish coffee and the beginnings of a smile from his lips, and slowly lowered his dexter eyelid.
2. 2

   The right side (of a building, an equation, a heraldic shield [from the wearer's…

   The right side (of a building, an equation, a heraldic shield [from the wearer's perspective], etc).

   • On the dexter of the court is a long hall with an arched ceiling and a door, leading to a small oblong shrine with a vaulted ceiling.
3. 3

   A surname originating as an occupation for a female dyer.

4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Any of a number of places in the United States and Canada, named for persons with the…

      Any of a number of places in the United States and Canada, named for persons with the surname.

   2. 5

      A male given name transferred from the surname.

      • I was in Atlanta with our three children — our second son, Dexter, named for our beloved church in Montgomery, had been born in January, and was still an infant.
   3. 6

      One of a breed of small hardy cattle originating from the Kerry breed of Ireland,…

      One of a breed of small hardy cattle originating from the Kerry breed of Ireland, valuable for beef and milk. They are usually chiefly black, sometimes red, and somewhat resemble a small shorthorn in build.

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