Etymology

Borrowed from LatinCategory:English terms borrowed from Latin#RECTUSCategory:English terms derived from Latin#RECTUS rēctus (“straight, upright”), clipping of mūsculus rēctus (“straight muscle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛk.təs/Category:English 2-syllable words#RECTUSCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#RECTUS

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#RECTUS

Noun

rectus (plural recti)Category:English lemmas#RECTUSCategory:English nouns#RECTUSCategory:English countable nouns#RECTUSCategory:English nouns with irregular plurals#RECTUSCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#RECTUSCategory:Pages with entries#RECTUSCategory:Pages with 2 entries#RECTUS

1. (anatomyCategory:en:Muscles#RECTUS) Any of several straight muscles in various parts of the body, as of the abdomen, thigh, eye etc.

   Hyponyms: rectus abdominis, rectus capitis anterior, rectus capitis lateralis, rectus capitis posterior major, rectus capitis posterior minor, rectus femoris

   1. (anatomyCategory:en:Muscles#RECTUS) Ellipsis of rectus abdominisCategory:English ellipses#RECTUS.
   2. (anatomyCategory:en:Muscles#RECTUS) Any of a number of muscles controlling the movement of the eyeball.

      Hyponyms: superior rectus, inferior rectus, medial rectus, lateral rectus

References

• “rectus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “rectus”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• Crutes, Curets, Custer, cruets, cruset, curest, curets, eructs, recuts, truces

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of regō (“to keep or lead straight, to guide”). Inherited from Proto-ItalicCategory:Latin terms inherited from Proto-Italic#RECTUSCategory:Latin terms derived from Proto-Italic#RECTUS *rektos, corresponding to Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#RECTUS *h₃reǵtós (“having moved in a straight line”), from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#RECTUS *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, direct”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈreːk.tʊs]Category:Latin 2-syllable words#RECTUSCategory:Latin terms with IPA pronunciation#RECTUS
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈrɛk.tus]Category:Latin 2-syllable words#RECTUSCategory:Latin terms with IPA pronunciation#RECTUS

Participle

rēctus (feminine rēcta, neuter rēctum, comparative rēctior, superlative rēctissimus, adverb rēctē)Category:Latin non-lemma forms#RECTUSCategory:Latin participles#RECTUSCategory:Latin perfect participles#RECTUSCategory:Latin first and second declension participles#RECTUSCategory:Latin entries with incorrect language header#RECTUSCategory:Pages with entries#RECTUSCategory:Pages with 2 entries#RECTUS; first/second-declension participle

1. led straight along, drawn in a straight line, straight, upright.

   Synonym: prōrsus

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.23:

     Quae rectis lineis suos ordines servant

     Which preserve their order in straight lines

     Category:Latin terms with quotations#RECTUS
2. (in general) right, correct, proper, appropriate, befitting.
3. (in particular) morally right, correct, lawful, just, virtuous, noble, good, proper, honest.

   Antonyms: prāvus, iniūrius

   • c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Proverbs.12.15:

     Via stultī rēcta in oculīs eius; quī autem sapiēns est audit cōnsilia.

     The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that is wise hearkeneth unto counsels. (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.: 1752 CE)

     Category:Latin terms with quotations#RECTUS

References

• “rectus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “rectus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "rectus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “rectus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) in a straight line: recta (regione, via); in directum
    
  • (ambiguous) you were right in...; you did right to..: recte, bene fecisti quod...
    
  • (ambiguous) a good conscience: conscientia recta, recte facti (factorum), virtutis, bene actae vitae, rectae voluntatis
    
  • (ambiguous) to congratulate oneself on one's clear conscience: conscientia recte factorum erigi
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: et recte (iure, merito)
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: et recte (iure) quidem
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: recte, iure id quidem
    

  Category:Latin words in Meissner and Auden's phrasebook