bend sinister en · NOUN
Meanings
- A diagonal band on a coat of arms going from the sinister chief (the viewer's top right) to the dexter base, sometimes erroneously held to indicate bastardy.
-
(dated, figuratively) Bastardy, (by extension) a defect or stigma.
A ‘bend sinister’ ran athwart his reputation as a priest. Men muttered that he was an infidel, a blasphemous vagabond, versed in all the damnable heresies of antiquity.
1904, Warwick Deeping, Love Among the Ruins, page 101:Rumour credited his family tree with both a 50 per cent. Jewish strain and a bend sinister.
1956, Carlile Aylmer Macartney, October Fifteenth: A History of Modern Hungary, 1929–1945, volume 1, page 105:“I am a gentleman,” he began slowly, his back still turned, and his fingers moving busily. “Or rather, the blood of a gentleman flows through my veins.” […] “A bend sinister. Poor lad!”
2021, J. S. Emery, A Clockwork River, →ISBN:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bends sinister | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
Translations (10)
cs břevno pošikem (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · fr barre (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · nb skråbjelke (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · pt barra (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · ca barra (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · de Schräglinksbalken (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · nl schuinstreep sinister (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · it sbarra (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · es barra (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left) · sv ginbalk (diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left)