Widdershins
[WIH-dər-shinz]
Part of speech: adverb
Origin: Scottish, early 16th century
1.
In a direction contrary to the sun's course, considered as unlucky.
2.
Counterclockwise.
Examples of Widdershins in a sentence
"The first thing my dog does when he gets home is run widdershins three times around the backyard."
"Despite dancing widdershins when everyone else went clockwise, Martha was the highlight of the Christmas musical."
About Widdershins
This adverb developed from a mix of the Middle Low German word "weddersins" and the Middle High German word "widersinnes." Despite being spelled differently, both of these words came from the same roots — "wider" ("against") and "sin" ("direction").
Did you Know?
If you've traveled anywhere south of the equator, you've probably noticed something odd about draining water — it travels widdershins, or counterclockwise, down the drain, compared to clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
