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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for March 15, 1999
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Ambidextrous [adj. am-bi-DEK-strus]
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If you are ambidextrous, it means that you can use your right and left
hands about equally well. Some ambidextrous people have handedness
for particular activities -- writing with the right hand and drawing
with the left one, for instance.
The word has an interesting origin. The Latin "ambi-" means on both
sides or around, and "dexter" means right-handed or skillful. So,
literally, ambidextrous means having two "right" hands.
We see the ambi- root in a number of other words, including:
ambiguous: having at least two possible meanings
ambivalent: having mixed feelings
ambiversion: describes a personality that is sometimes introverted,
sometimes extroverted
The dexter- root gives us these words:
dexterous, dextrous: skillful with one's hands
dextral: on the right side, right-handed
dextrorotation: a turning to the right
This last term is normally used to describe the polarization of light,
but The Learning Kingdom suggests a more general usage:
"To get to the bank, continue on Main Street and then make a
dextrorotation onto First Street..." :-)
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