Ambidexter
/ˌæm.bɪˈdɛk.stər/noun
A person who can use both hands with equal skill, or historically, someone deceitful or double-dealing.
Did you know?In medieval and early modern English, ambidexter could mean not just left- and right-handed, but a corrupt juror or a person who played both sides, showing how handiness became a metaphor for duplicity.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
ambidexter
“literally “right-handed on both sides”; also used for a double-dealer”
Late Latin
Latin
ambidexter
“a person equally able with either hand, or figuratively a two-faced person”
Middle English
English
ambidextre
“a double-dealer or one who appears to favor both sides”
16th Century
English
ambidexter
“a person who is equally skillful with both hands; also a dishonest time-server”
Modern English
English
ambidexter
“rare; an archaic term for a person skilled with both hands, or figuratively a double-dealer”
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