left

The English word 'left' has one of the more sociologically revealing etymologies in the language.‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍ It derives from Middle English 'left' or 'luft,' which comes from the Kentish and East Anglian dialect form of Old English 'lyft,' meaning 'weak,' 'foolish,' or 'worthless.' This bluntly pejorative origin makes English nearly unique among European languages, most of which adopted euphemisms for the left side rather than openly insulting it.

The prejudice against the left hand is ancient, widespread, and deeply embedded in language. The Latin word for left, 'sinister,' originally meant 'unfavorable' or 'unlucky' and eventually came to mean 'evil' in English. French 'gauche' meant 'clumsy' or 'awkward' before it meant 'left' (and retains the 'socially clumsy' sense in English). Italian 'sinistra' carries the same Latin baggage. Even Old English had a euphemistic term for the left side: 'winestra,' from a root meaning 'friendlier' or 'more favorable' — a transparent attempt to placate whatever malign power was associated with the left by calling it something pleasant.

The triumph of 'left' over 'winestra' in English is therefore linguistically unusual. At some point between the Old English and Middle English periods, speakers in certain dialects abandoned the polite fiction and simply called the weaker side 'the weak side.' The Kentish dialect form 'left' spread, perhaps because its directness was more useful than the old euphemism, which had become opaque. By the thirteenth century, 'left' was the standard term.

The Proto-Germanic root *luft- (weak, paralyzed, useless) has few surviving cognates. Middle Dutch 'luft' (left) and East Frisian 'luf' (weak) attest the root in other West Germanic languages. The Dutch nautical term 'loof' (the windward side) may be related, and some scholars have connected it to the nautical English term 'luff' (to steer toward the wind), though this connection is uncertain.

The cultural bias against left-handedness runs far deeper than European languages. In many African, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures, the left hand is considered unclean. Islamic and Hindu traditions designate the right hand for eating and greeting and the left for hygiene. These near-universal taboos likely reflect the practical reality that in a predominantly right-handed species (roughly 90% of humans are right-handed across all cultures and historical periods), the minority who favored their left hand were perceived as abnormal.

The political meaning of 'left' dates to the French Revolution. In the National Assembly of 1789, supporters of the king sat to the president's right, while revolutionaries sat to the left. This accidental seating arrangement produced 'la gauche' and 'la droite' as political terms, which were rapidly adopted into English as 'the left' and 'the right.' The political sense has since eclipsed the directional sense in many contexts.

The compound 'left-handed' has carried negative connotations for centuries. A 'left-handed compliment' is an insult disguised as praise. In heraldry, a 'bar sinister' (actually a 'bend sinister,' a diagonal stripe running from upper left to lower right on the shield) indicated illegitimate birth. The word 'southpaw,' originally baseball slang for a left-handed pitcher (because in most old ballparks the pitcher faced west, putting his left arm on the south side), is one of the few left-related terms without negative overtones.

The nautical term for the left side of a ship, 'port' (replacing the older 'larboard'), was officially adopted by the Royal Navy in 1844 precisely because 'larboard' sounded too much like 'starboard' in shouted commands — a practical reform that saved lives. But 'larboard' itself may derive from a root meaning 'loading side,' since cargo was traditionally loaded from the left side of the vessel.