A right-handed Cartesian coordinate system, presenting the z (up) vector and y (forward) vector, the right is defined to be the positive x vector. In this image, left and right are defined from the attacking boxer's perspective.

Left, right, forward, and back are the relative directions. They change as a person moves. People are often confused by the relative nature of these directions. "Left" for one person is different from "left" for another. Unlike the cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West), left and right are based solely on the viewer's perspective. Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Right-left01. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Right-left01. ... A person who is right-handed is more dextrous with their right hand than with their left hand: they will write with their right hand, and probably also use this hand for tasks such as personal care, cooking, and so on. ... Jump to: navigation, search Cartesian means relating to the French mathematician and philosopher Descartes, who, among other things, worked to merge algebra and Euclidean geometry. ... Forward can refer to: A Forward contract, in Finance - an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a pre-agreed future point in time. ... Wiktionary has a definition of: Back In anatomy, the back usually refers to the posterior side of the torso in humans and other primates. ... The term direction can be applied to various topics. ... Cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four principal directions or points of the compass, north, east, south and west. ... Compass rose with north highlighted and at top North is one of the four cardinal directions, specifically the direction that, in Western culture, is treated as the primary direction: north is used (explicitly or implicitly) to define all other directions; the (visual) top edges of maps usually correspond to the... A compass rose with South highlighted South is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. ... A compass rose with east highlighted East is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. ... A compass rose with west highlighted This article refers to the cardinal direction; for other uses see West (disambiguation). ... Perspective is the choice of a single point of view from which to sense, categorize, measure or codify experience, typically for comparing with another. ...

The terms are derived from the fact that some 90% of the population are right-handed, that is, favour their right hand for a variety of tasks. The direction right is a cognate of "right" meaning correct or good. The word "left" comes from the Old English lyft, meaning weak. This dichotomy can also be seen in the words "dextrous" and "sinister", from the Latin words for right and left. A person who is right-handed is more dextrous with their right hand than with their left hand: they will write with their right hand, and probably also use this hand for tasks such as personal care, cooking, and so on. ... Jump to: navigation, search Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... A dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive parts. ... Jump to: navigation, search Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

In the vast majority of the population, the heart is slightly to the left of the body's centre line and the liver is to the right. Less visibly, the two hemispheres of the brain differ in function. The heart and lungs (from an older edition of Grays Anatomy) The heart (Latin cor) is a hollow, muscular organ that pumps blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. ... Jump to: navigation, search The liver is an organ in vertebrates, including humans. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search In the anatomy of animals, the brain, or encephalon, is the higher, supervisory center of the nervous system. ...

Mirrors are said to reverse left and right. Strictly, this is not true: the image of one's left hand is on his or her left-hand side. However, it is seen at the position corresponding to that of the right hand of a real person opposite to him or her. Thus one can say that the mirror has the combined effect of turning you around and reversing left and right. One can also say that it reverses front and back side. If one takes a cube and writes "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "front", and "back" and holds it so that all sides face the correct direction, then hold a mirror behind it, without moving the cube or himself or herself, one will notice that "front" and "back" are swapped in the mirror image, but the other sides are still correctly labelled. A mirror is a reflective surface that is smooth enough to form an image. ...

In nautical usage, the halves of a ship are designated port (left) and starboard (right), relative to a person looking forward (towards the bow of the ship). Jump to: navigation, search Port is the nautical term (used on boats and ships) that refers to the left side of a ship, as perceived by a person facing towards the bow (the front of the vessel). ... Starboard is the nautical term (used on boats and ships) that refers to the right side of a vessel, as perceived by a person facing forward (i. ...

In politics, "left" and "right" are labels applied to parts of a theoretical spectrum of opinion:

• Left is associated with liberalism, and, in the United States, with the Democratic Party. In the extreme, "left" can be associated with socialism and communism.
• Right is associated with conservativism, and, in the United States, with the Republican Party. In the extreme, "right" can be associated with fascism.

This usage derives from the seating of parliamentary partisans during the French Revolution; see left-wing politics and right-wing politics. Jump to: navigation, search This article discusses liberalism as a major political ideology, not the usage of the term in specific countries. ... There are many political parties of diverse political orientation called the Democratic Party or similar. ... Jump to: navigation, search The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... Jump to: navigation, search Communism refers to a theoretical system of social organization and a political movement based on common ownership of the means of production. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... Republican Party is a name used by many political parties. ... Jump to: navigation, search Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Jump to: navigation, search During the French Revolution (1789-1799) democracy and republicanism overthrew the absolute monarchy in France, and the French portion of the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ... Jump to: navigation, search Left wing is also a term used in several sports; see winger (sport). ... Jump to: navigation, search In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the Right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ...

Example

See text for explanation.

In this diagram, showing a road with right-hand traffic, the red car is to the left of the blue car. The blue car is, therefore, on the right-hand side. Should the blue car move backward, it would reach the position of the yellow car. For the red car to be where the green car is, it would have to move forward. Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Left_and_right. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Left_and_right. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article covers only rules of highways. ...

The lane containing the green and red cars is the left lane, the lane with the yellow and blue cars is the right lane.