different between lithe vs dexterous
lithe
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /la?ð/
- Rhymes: -a?ð
Etymology 1
From Middle English lithen, from Old English l?þan (“to go, travel, sail, be bereft of”), from Proto-Germanic *l?þan? (“to go, leave, suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to go, depart, die”). Cognate with North Frisian lyen, lije (“to suffer”), Dutch lijden (“to suffer, dree, abide”), German leiden (“to suffer, brook, permit”). See also lode, lead.
Verb
lithe (third-person singular simple present lithes, present participle lithing, simple past lithed or lode, past participle lithed or lidden)
- (intransitive, obsolete) To go.
Etymology 2
From Middle English lithe, from Old English l?þe (“gentle, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *linþ(?), from Proto-Germanic *linþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *lentos. Akin to Saterland Frisian lied (“thin, skinny, gaunt”), Danish and archaic German lind (“mild”). Not attested in Gothic. Some sources also list Latin lenis (“soft”) and/or Latin lentus (“supple”) as possible cognates.
Adjective
lithe (comparative lither, superlative lithest)
- (obsolete) Mild; calm.
- Synonyms: clement, gentle, mellow
- Slim but not skinny.
- Synonyms: lithesome, lissome, swack; see also Thesaurus:slender
- She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had thought to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.
- Capable of being easily bent; flexible.
- Synonyms: pliant, flexible, limber; see also Thesaurus:flexible
- 1861, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Elsie Venner, page 125
- … she danced with a kind of passionate fierceness, her lithe body undulating with flexuous grace …
- Adaptable.
Derived terms
- litheness
Related terms
- -inda
- lind
- linden
- Linda
Translations
Etymology 3
From Middle English lithen, from Old English l?þian, l?þi?ian (“to soften, calm, mitigate, assuage, appease, be mild”), from Proto-Germanic *linþijan? (“to soften”), from Proto-Indo-European *lento- (“bendsome, resilient”). Cognate with German lindern (“to alleviate, ease, relieve”).
Verb
lithe
- (intransitive, obsolete) To become calm.
- (transitive, obsolete) To make soft or mild; soften; alleviate; mitigate; lessen; smooth; palliate.
- a. 1652, Thomas Adams, Physic from Heaven
- England.. hath now suppled, lithed and stretched their throats.
- 1642, Daniel Rogers, Naaman the Syrian: His Disease and Cure
- Give me also faith, Lord,.. to lithe, to form, and to accommodate my spirit and members.
- a. 1652, Thomas Adams, Physic from Heaven
Etymology 4
From Middle English lithen, from Old Norse hlýða (“to listen”), from Proto-Germanic *hliuþijan? (“to listen”), from Proto-Indo-European *?lewe- (“to hear”). Cognate with Danish lytte (“to listen”). Related to Old English hl?oþor (“noise, sound, voice, song, hearing”), Old English hl?d (“loud, noisy, sounding, sonorous”). More at loud.
Alternative forms
- lythe
Verb
lithe (third-person singular simple present lithes, present participle lithing, simple past and past participle lithed)
- (intransitive, obsolete) To attend; listen, hearken.
- (transitive) To listen to, hearken to.
Etymology 5
Origin uncertain; perhaps an alteration of lewth.
Noun
lithe (plural lithes)
- (Scotland) Shelter.
- 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song:
- So Cospatric got him the Pict folk to build a strong castle there in the lithe of the hills, with the Grampians dark and bleak behind it, and he had the Den drained and he married a Pict lady and got on her bairns and he lived there till he died.
- 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song:
Anagrams
- Leith, Theil, Thiel, lieth
Middle English
Etymology 1
Noun
lithe (plural lithes)
- Alternative form of light
Etymology 2
Noun
lithe
- Alternative form of lyth
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dexterous
English
Alternative forms
- dextrous (British)
Etymology
From Latin dexter (“right, ready”) + -ous.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?d?kst??s/
- Rhymes: -?kst??s
Adjective
dexterous (comparative more dexterous, superlative most dexterous)
- Skillful with one's hands.
- Skillful in some specific thing.
- 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- We went frequently out with this boat a-fishing; and as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me.
- 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- Agile; flexible; able to move fluidly and gracefully.
- (figuratively, archaic) Skilled at argumentation; mentally skillful.
- 1775, speech by Edmund Burke
- […] the study [of law] renders men acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in defense […]
- 1775, speech by Edmund Burke
Related terms
- ambidextrous
- dexter
- dexterity
Translations
See also
- adroit
- active
- expert
- skillful
- clever
- able
- ready
- apt
- handy
- versed
Further reading
- dexterous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- dexterous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- dexterous at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- Exoduster
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