bend sinister
- noun
- Specialized
:
banda siniestra
- In heraldry, a bend sinister runs from the shield's upper right to its lower left.
Examples
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The family crest features a bend sinister, indicating a historical lineage of illegitimacy.
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The knight's shield bore a prominent bend sinister across a field of blue.
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The family crest features a bend sinister across the shield.
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In heraldry, a bend sinister often signifies illegitimacy.
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In heraldry, a bend sinister runs diagonally from the upper right to the lower left of the shield.
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The family crest prominently displays a bend sinister, which symbolizes a history of illegitimacy.
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On his coat of arms, the knight had a striking bend sinister that added an elegant touch to the blue field.
Synonyms
7
9.3
A wide diagonal band on a shield from top right to bottom left
A diagonal band on a shield running from the top right to the bottom left as seen by the bearer
A diagonal band on a shield in heraldry running from the upper right to the lower left
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term is directly compositional: 'bend' denotes a diagonal band on a shield and 'sinister' specifies the left-hand side, so a learner who knows those constituent meanings can infer 'a diagonal band on the left side of a shield'. Although the usage is specialized to heraldry, the semantic combination is literal and follows a predictable pattern, making it readily understandable to learners who know both words.
Etymology
Bend sinister comes from old shields and family crests where a diagonal band called a bend ran from the shield's upper right to its lower left. That stripe was sometimes used to show a child 'born outside marriage', so the image came to mean 'illegitimacy' or simply a diagonal decoration.