# Ambidextrous Meaning: What It Really Means (and Meant) > Ambidextrous means using both hands with equal skill. From Latin for "right-handed on both sides" — plus the word's forgotten first meaning, and how many people truly are. - URL: https://ambidestro.it/en/ambidextrous-meaning/ - Author: Mattia Penna (https://mattiapenna.dev/) - Category: Are You Ambidextrous - Language: English - Published: 2026-09-25 - Updated: 2026-10-09 - Other languages: [Italiano](https://ambidestro.it/ambidestro-significato.md), [Español](https://ambidestro.it/es/ambidiestro-significado.md) ## Two right hands **Ambidextrous** means able to use both hands with equal skill. The word comes from Medieval Latin *ambidexter*: *ambi*, both, and *dexter*, right-handed. Literally, **right-handed on both sides**[\[1\]](#fonti "Ambidextrous - Etymology, Origin & Meaning"). The noun is *ambidexterity*. Look at your hands. One is the capable one — it signs, it cuts, it reaches for the mug on its own. The other waits. Someone ambidextrous has no hand that waits. ## A double-dealer first Here's the twist. When the word first arrived in English, in the late 14th century, it wasn't a compliment. An *ambidexter* was **a double-dealer, someone who takes both sides** in a conflict[\[1\]](#fonti "Ambidextrous - Etymology, Origin & Meaning"). The sense of physical skill only settled in with *ambidextrous*, from the 1640s. It makes sense, if you think about it. Anyone who can work with both hands can also play both sides of the table. The insult came first; the talent came later. ## Strict or loose So how many people are ambidextrous? It depends on how strict you are. **Equal skill at every task, writing included**: a tiny minority. Ask people, and about 2% say they use both hands equally[\[4\]](#fonti "Cuellar-Partida et al., 2021"); the real thing is rarer than that. Just not being purely right-handed, on the other hand, gets you to 18.1% of people[\[2\]](#fonti "Papadatou-Pastou et al., 2020"). Two figures that far apart, and both are right. I line them up, study by study, in the [ambidextrous statistics](https://ambidestro.it/en/ambidextrous-statistics/). ## What it isn't Ambidextrous doesn't mean **mixed-handed**. If you write with your right and throw with your left, you use different hands for different tasks. That's common, and it doesn't make you ambidextrous. An ambidextrous person does *the same task* equally well with either hand. It doesn't mean left-handed either. A left-hander has a dominant hand — it's just the other one. Same as a right-hander, whose [meaning](https://ambidestro.it/en/right-handed-meaning/) I unpack in a sister article to this one. **The opposite of ambidextrous** It exists, and it's wonderful: **ambisinistrous**, *clumsy with both hands*. It's built from *ambi* and *sinister*, left, and has been on record since 1863[\[3\]](#fonti "A.Word.A.Day -- ambisinistrous"). There's even a synonym, *ambilevous*. Two left hands, in other words. If you've ever dropped your phone from both hands in the same minute, now you know what to call yourself. ## And the feet The word was born for hands — *dexter* is the right hand. For feet, English usually says **two-footed**, or the rarer *ambipedal*, although some dictionaries now let "ambidextrous" stretch that far too. The whole story is in [ambidextrous feet](https://ambidestro.it/en/ambidextrous-feet/); the football side is in [two-footed footballers](https://ambidestro.it/en/two-footed-footballers/). ## Born or trained Which brings us to the question that actually matters. > What about me? Am I — or could I become one? For the first half there's the [ambidextrous test](https://ambidestro.it/en/ambidextrous-test/): eight questions, a couple of minutes. For the second, read [whether you can become ambidextrous](https://ambidestro.it/en/can-you-become-ambidextrous/), then pick your path in [how to become ambidextrous](https://ambidestro.it/en/how-to-become-ambidextrous/). ## The hand that waits The hand that waits doesn't have to wait forever. Pick it up. Give it something to do. Did you know the word started life as an insult? If this was useful, share it with the friend who brags about doing everything with both hands. If you want a guided path, step by step, I've put all of it in a book. [ ![Cover of the book How to Become Ambidextrous](https://ambidestro.it/uploads/cover_how_to_become_ambidextrous_135ca3f910.webp) ](https://ambidestro.it/go/ambidextrous?l=en) **[Two right hands can be trained: start with the book](https://ambidestro.it/go/ambidextrous?l=en)** ## Frequently asked questions ### What is ambidexterity? Ambidexterity is the noun: the ability to use both hands with equal skill. The adjective is ambidextrous, and an older noun, ambidexter, is still in dictionaries but rarely used. True ambidexterity, meaning equal skill at every task including writing, is rare; being mixed-handed, using different hands for different tasks, is much more common. ### Is being left-handed the same as being ambidextrous? No. A left-handed person has a dominant hand, the left, just as a right-handed person has the right; only the side changes. An ambidextrous person has no dominant hand and performs the same task equally well with either one. Left-handers are far more common, roughly one person in ten. ### Does ambidextrous have a figurative meaning? Yes. Besides describing equal skill with both hands, ambidextrous can mean unusually versatile, someone skilled in two different fields. The word's oldest English sense went the other way: in the late 1300s an ambidexter was a double-dealer who took both sides in a dispute, a meaning that has since faded. ## Sources 1. [Ambidextrous - Etymology, Origin & Meaning](https://www.etymonline.com/word/ambidextrous) 2. [Papadatou-Pastou et al., 2020](https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000229) 3. [A.Word.A.Day -- ambisinistrous](https://wordsmith.org/words/ambisinistrous.html) 4. [Cuellar-Partida et al., 2021](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00956-y)