"muscle which serves to straighten or extend any part of the body," 1713, short for medical Latin musculus extensor, from Late Latin extensor "stretcher," agent noun from Latin extendere "spread out, spread" (see extend).
Old English rihtan "to straighten (a path); rule, set up, set right, amend; guide, govern; restore, replace," from riht (adj.); see right (adj.1). Compare Old Norse retta "to straighten," Old Saxon rihtian, Old Frisian riuchta, German richten, Gothic garaihtjan.
From late 14c. as "avenge or redress" (a wrong or injury). The meaning "bring (a ship) back to an upright position" is by 1745; the sense of "recover one's balance or footing" is by 1805. The meaning "restore (something) to proper position after a fall, etc." is by 1823. Related: Righted; righting.
"a large bicycle propelled by a small motor," 1895, a hybrid from motor + -cycle, from bicycle. Motocycle also was used late 19c.
The horse follows the crooks of a country road, but then the training of the "motorcycle" (horrid name) will inevitably straighten out the crooks in the country road, and afford long ranges of straight tracks. [Payson Burleigh, "The Age of Steel," Oct. 12, 1895]
Related: Motorcyclist.
mid-14c., redressen, "to correct, reform" (a person; a sense now obsolete); late 14c., "restore, put right" (a wrong, error, offense); "repair; relieve; improve; amend," from Old French redrecier, redresier, "reform, restore, rebuild" (Modern French redresser), from re- "again" (see re-) + drecier "to straighten, arrange" (see dress (v.)). Formerly used in many more senses than currently. Related: Redressed; redressing.
"horizontal bar passing from one post or support to another," c. 1300, from Old French raille, reille "bolt, bar," from Vulgar Latin *regla, from Latin regula "rule, straight piece of wood," diminutive form related to regere "to straighten, guide" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line").
In U.S. use, "A piece of timber, cleft, hewed, or sawed, inserted in upright posts for fencing" [Webster, 1830]. Used figuratively for thinness from 1872. By 1830s as "iron or steel bar or beam used on a railroad to support and guide the wheels." To be off the rails "out of the normal or proper condition" in a figurative sense is from 1848, an image from railroads.
early 14c., "to value, assess," from Anglo-French estendre (late 13c.), Old French estendre "stretch out, extend, increase," transitive and intransitive (Modern French étendre), from Latin extendere "stretch out, spread out; increase, enlarge, prolong, continue," from ex "out" (see ex-) + tendere "to stretch," from PIE root *ten- "to stretch."
Original sense in English is obsolete. From late 14c. as "lengthen or extend in time," also "straighten" (an arm, wing. etc.). Meaning "make longer and/or broader in space" is from early 15c., as is intransitive sense of "cover an area, have a certain extent in space;" sense of "expand, grow distended" is from 1753. Related: Extended; extending.
early 14c., "to guide, aim, or direct," from Old French adrecier "go straight toward; straighten, set right; point, direct" (13c.), from Vulgar Latin *addirectiare "make straight" (source also of Spanish aderezar, Italian addirizzare), from ad "to" (see ad-) + *directiare "make straight," from Latin directus "straight, direct" past participle of dirigere "set straight," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + regere "to direct, to guide, keep straight" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line"). Compare dress (v.)).
The oldest sense in English is preserved in the terminology of golf (to address a ball). The meaning "direct for transmission, write as a destination on a message" is from mid-15c. The meaning "direct spoken words (to someone)" is from late 15c. From late 14c. as "to set in order, repair, correct." The attempt (falsely) re-Latinize the spelling to add- began in France 15c. but failed there (the Modern French verb is adresser); it stuck in English. Related: Addressed; addressing.
late 14c., "direct, undeviating; not crooked, not bent or curved," of a person, "direct, honest;" properly "stretched," adjectival use of Old English streht (earlier streaht), past participle of streccan "to stretch" (see stretch (v.)). Related: Straightly; straightness.
Meaning "true, direct, honest" is from 1520s. Of communication, "clear, unambiguous," from 1862. Sense of "undiluted, uncompromising" (as in straight whiskey, 1874) is American English, first recorded 1856. As an adverb from c. 1300, "in a straight line, without swerving or deviating." Theatrical sense of "serious" (as opposed to popular or comic) is attested from 1895; vaudeville slang straight man first attested 1923.
Go straight in the underworld slang sense is from 1919; straighten up "become respectable" is from 1907. To play it straight is from 1906 in theater, 1907 in sports ("play fair"), with figurative extension; later perhaps also from jazz. Straight arrow "decent, conventional person" is 1969, from archetypal Native American brave name. Straight shooter is from 1928. Straight As "top grades" is from 1920.
c. 1300, "make straight; direct, guide, control; prepare for cooking," from Old French dresser, drecier "raise (oneself); address, prepare; lift, raise, hoist; set up, arrange, set (a table), serve (food); straighten, put right, direct," from Vulgar Latin *directiare "make straight," from Latin directus "direct, straight," past participle of dirigere "set straight," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + regere "to direct, to guide, keep straight" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line").
Sense of "decorate, adorn" is from late 14c., as is that of "put on clothing." The older sense survives in military dress ranks "align columns of troops." Of males, in reference to the position of the sex organ in trousers, by 1961.
Dress up "attire elaborately, put on one's best clothing" is from 1670s; dress down "wear clothes less formal than expected" is by 1960. Transitive use of dress (someone) down, "scold, reprimand," is by 1876, earlier simply dress (1769), in which the sense is ironical. In Middle English, dress up meant "get up" and dress down meant "to kneel." Related: Dressed; dressing.
