widdershins
adverb

- in a direction contrary to the apparent course of the sun; counterclockwise, or lefthandwise; to walk around an object by always keeping it on the left

- in a left-handed, wrong, or contrary direction; counterclockwise — often used in contexts implying bad luck or opposition to natural order

- moving or turning in a direction opposite to the sun's apparent movement across the sky; anticlockwise; also used figuratively to mean backwards, wrong-headed, or contrary

Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Collins English Dictionary

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ORIGIN

The word reaches us from Middle Low German weddersinnes, which literally meant "against the way" or "in the opposite direction." This compound joined wider ("against") and sinnen ("to travel, to go"), the latter related to sind meaning "journey."

The Old High German widar is a cousin of modern German wider (against) and widersinnig (absurd, contrary to sense). The "sins" element is not, despite appearances, anything to do with moral wrongdoing; it traces back to the Proto-Germanic root: sinþaz, for "path" or "course."

The earliest recorded use in English appears in a 1513 translation of Virgil's Aeneid by the Scottish poet Gavin Douglas, in the phrase "widdersyns start my hair" — meaning "my hair stood on end." Here the word still carried its older, broader sense of "in the wrong direction" rather than its later, specific meaning of counterclockwise.

By the mid-1500s, widdershins had settled into its navigational role. It was especially common in Lowland Scots, where it described walking anticlockwise around a church — which was widely considered unlucky. In pre-Christian sun-worshipping traditions, moving against the sun's apparent path was seen as opposing the natural order — the source of the superstition.

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Why Supermarkets Make You Walk the "Wrong" Way



Have you noticed that most supermarket and department stores are deliberately designed to lead shoppers widdershins — that is, counter-clockwise — through their displays? Research shows that the majority of people, right-handers in particular, instinctively turn their heads and drift to the right when entering an unfamiliar space. Store designers exploit this bias by routing customers in the opposite direction, subtly slowing their progress and maximising exposure to products along the way.

Fascinatingly, the direction a baby turns its head — even before birth — turns out to be a reliable predictor of future handedness. This early lateral preference, observable in pre-natal and newborn behaviour, suggests that the left-right asymmetry shaping how we navigate supermarket aisles may be hardwired long before we take our first steps.

Readers who want to explore the evidence are encouraged to start with Marina Kholod et al., "Clockwise and Anti-clockwise Directions of Customer Orientation in a Supermarket: Evidence from RFID Data", and follow the associated references from there.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

against the course, against the current, against the grain, against the sun, anti-sunwise, anticlockwise, arsy-versy, ass-backwards, back to front, back-handed, backward(s), buck the trend, contrary, contrariwise, contrary direction, counter-sunwise, counterclockwise, defy the flow, deviating from the norm, going against the grain, going the wrong way, in reverse, in the wrong direction, inside out, left-handed, left-handwise, leftward, moonwise, on the wrong foot, out of kilter, retrograde movement, reverse direction, swimming upstream, the opposite way, the wrong way about, the wrong way round, topsy-turvy, turn things backwards, upside down, WIDDERSHINS, wrong-footed, wrongly oriented

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Do you know why supermarkets are designed to move customers WIDDERSHINS through their store?”

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