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Saving "our Democracy" one word at a time. Witches and serpents from the Lollipop Guild.
consensus (n.) sinister (adj.)
early 15c., sinistre, "prompted by malice or ill-will; false, dishonest, intending to mislead," with suggestion, report, etc., from Old French senestre, sinistre "contrary, false; unfavorable; to the left" (14c.), from Latin sinister "left, on the left side" (opposite of dexter), a word of uncertain origin.
Perhaps meaning properly "the slower or weaker hand" [Tucker], but Klein and Buck suggest it's a euphemism (see left (adj.)) and connected with the root of Sanskrit saniyan "more useful, more advantageous." With contrastive or comparative suffix -ter, as in dexter (see dexterity). "This remains gratuitous, because the semantics are not specific enough" [de Vaan].
The Latin word was used in augury in the sense of "unlucky, unfavorable" (omens, especially bird flights, seen on the left hand were regarded as portending misfortune), and thus sinister acquired a sense of "harmful, unfavorable, adverse." This was from Greek influence, reflecting the early Greek practice of facing north when observing omens. In genuine Roman auspices, the augurs faced south and left was favorable. Thus sinister also retained a secondary sense in Latin of "favorable, auspicious, fortunate, lucky."
In reference to persons, "deceitful, perfidious," from late 15c. The classical literal sense of "left as opposed to right, in the left side (of the body)" is attested in English from c. 1500. In heraldry (from 1560s) sinister indicates "left, to the left." Related: Sinisterly; sinisterness.
Bend sinister (not bar sinister) in heraldry indicates illegitimacy and preserves the literal sense of "on or from the left side" (though in heraldry this is from the view of the bearer of the shield, not the observer of it; see bend (n.2)).
also from early 15c.
Entries linking to sinister
bend (n.2)
"broad diagonal band in a coat-of-arms, etc.," mid-14c., from the earlier sense of "thin, flat strap for wrapping round," from Old English bend "fetter, shackle, chain," from PIE *bhendh- "to bind" (see bend (v.)). Probably in part also from Old French bende (Modern French bande) and Medieval Latin benda, both of them from Germanic. Ordinarily running from the right top to the left bottom; the bend sinister runs along the other diagonal.
dexterity (n.)
1520s, "manual skill, skill in using the hands; physical adroitness in general," from French dexterité (16c.), from Latin dexteritatem (nominative dexteritas) "readiness, skillfulness, prosperity," from dexter "skillful," also "right (hand)," from PIE root *deks- "right, on the right hand," also "south." Compare dexter. In 16c.-18c. also "mental adroitness or skill," often in a bad sense, "cleverness in taking advantage or avoiding responsibility."
Trends of sinister
adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.
More to Explore
left
c. 1200, "opposite of right," probably from Kentish and northern English forms of Old English *lyft "weak; foolish" (in lyft-adl "lameness, paralysis"). Compare East Frisian luf, Dutch dialectal loof "weak, worthless"). Sense of "opposite of right" is from the left being usually
sinistrorse
"turned or turning to the left," 1839, a word wanted by the botanists to describe the direction of spiral structures in nature, from Latin sinistrorsus "toward the left side," from sinister "left" (see sinister) + versus "turned," past participle of vertere "to turn" (from PIE ro
baleful
Old English bealufull "dire, wicked, cruel," with -ful + bealu "harm, injury, ruin, evil, mischief, wickedness, a noxious thing," from Proto-Germanic *balu- (source also of Old Saxon balu, Old Frisian balu "evil," Old High German balo "destruction," Old Norse bol, Gothic balwjan
cabal
five intriguing ministers of Charles II (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale), which gave the word its sinister...
casuist
Often since 17c. in a sinister or contemptuous sense "over-subtle reasoner, sophist."...
saltire
Andrew's Cross on a shield or flag, consisting of a bend dexter and a bend sinister crossing each other, from Old French...
irregular
Yet the word is sometimes used in a sinister sense, as though it were a euphemism for something worse."...
dark
Middle English derk, later dark, from Old English deorc "without light, lacking light or brightness (especially at night), obscure, gloomy;" figuratively "sad, cheerless; sinister, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *derkaz (source also of Old High German tarchanjan "to hide, conceal")
busy
Old English bisig "careful, anxious," later "continually employed or occupied, in constant or energetic action" cognate with Old Dutch bezich, Low German besig, but having no known connection with any other Germanic or Indo-European language. Still pronounced as in Middle English
vaccination
1800, used by British physician Edward Jenner (1749-1823) for the technique he publicized of preventing smallpox by injecting people with the similar but much milder cowpox virus (variolae |
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