Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “dexterous” come from?

Dexterous comes from Latin dexter, derived from Proto-Indo-European deḱs(i)-tero-, which traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root deḱs-.

dexterous (English): Skillful with one's hands; Skillful in some...

Definitions

  1. Skillful with one's hands; Skillful in some...

Ancestry of “dexterous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ousUsed to form adjectives from nouns, to denote...
2Middle English-ous—
3Old French-us-ous, used for forming adjectives
4Latin-ōsus—
5Old Latin-ōssus—

Words derived from “dexterous”

  • dexterously
  • dexterousness
Every word from Old Latin -ōssus →