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).

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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

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Etymology

Origin of recto

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

Example Sentences

“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

The first two parts of The Same Life Twice are arranged in a verso and recto standoff, and often engage each other in an unseemly slanging match across the page.

From The Guardian • Aug. 24, 2012

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

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine