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Ambidextrous
Definitions
- 1 Having equal or comparable ability in both hands; in particular, able to write well with both hands.
"Some are […]ambidextrous or right-handed on both sides; which happeneth only unto strong and athletical bodies, whose heat and spirits are able to afford an ability unto both."
- 2 Equally usable by left-handed and right-handed people (as a tool or instrument).
- 3 Practising or siding with both parties. archaic
"All False, Shuffling, and Ambidextrous Dealings."
- 4 Of a person, bisexual. humorous
- 5 Exceptionally skillful; adept in more than one medium, genre, style, etc.
"Michelangelo was a very ambidextrous artist, producing sculptures and frescoes with equal ability."
- 1 marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another wordnet
- 2 equally skillful with each hand wordnet
Etymology
From Medieval Latin ambidexter + -ous, the former from ambi- (“both”) + dexter (“right”), thus literally “both hands being like a right hand”. The Latin word is first attested in the Vetus Latina, calquing Ancient Greek ἀμφοτεροδέξιος (amphoterodéxios) in Judges 3:15 after the Septuagint, itself translating Hebrew אִטֵּר יַד יְמִינוֹ (iṭṭēr yaḏ yəmīnō, literally “bound in his right hand”). This phrase is now generally translated as “left-handed”; the Septuagint translation is either from a variant reading or from a different interpretation.
See also for "ambidextrous"
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