Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

recto

American  
[rek-toh] / ˈrɛk toʊ /

noun

Printing.

plural

rectos
  1. a right-hand page of an open book or manuscript; the front of a leaf (opposed to verso).


recto British  
/ ˈrɛktəʊ /

noun

  1. the front of a sheet of printed paper

  2. the right-hand pages of a book, bearing the odd numbers Compare verso

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of recto

1815–25; < Late Latin rēctō ( foliō ) on the right-hand (leaf or page), ablative of Latin rēctus right

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Sobekmose,” a masterwork containing about 100 spells, is unusual, in part, because it’s inscribed recto and verso.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Exterior becomes interior — or verso becomes recto — in Leedham’s wittily jumbled tableaux.

From Washington Post • Sep. 23, 2022

Then on the recto the book opens up a trapdoor: “But what else is time?”

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2021

GMT23:23 Miura, después de una derecha en el primer asalto se recupera y conecta recto de zurda en el cuarto y lo mandó a la lona.

From The Guardian • Nov. 21, 2015

On the recto, one to the same lady from Olive.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine