Dextrarum iunctio matrimonium significat.

to indicate

Breakdown of Dextrarum iunctio matrimonium significat.

• matrimonium: marriage; matrimony
• dextrarum iunctio: the ceremonial joining of right hands

Questions & Answers about Dextrarum iunctio matrimonium significat.

What case is dextrarum, and why is it used here?

Dextrarum is genitive plural. It depends on iunctio and tells you what kind of joining is meant: the joining of right hands.

A good way to see it is:

• iunctio = joining
• dextrarum = of right hands

So the genitive here works much like English of.

Why is dextrarum plural instead of singular?

It is plural because the sentence is talking about two right hands being joined, one from each person. In Roman symbolism, the joined right hands represented the union of the married couple.

So dextrarum iunctio is not just any joining of a hand, but the symbolic joining of right hands.

What exactly is dextra here? Does it really mean right hand?

Yes. Dextra can mean right hand. It is related to the adjective dexter, dextra, dextrum meaning right, but in Latin the feminine form dextra is very commonly used as a noun meaning right hand.

So here dextrarum means of right hands, not just of right sides.

What form is iunctio?