sinister的词源

英文词源

sinister: sinister: see left
sinister (adj.): early 15c., "prompted by malice or ill-will, intending to mislead," from Old French senestre, sinistre "contrary, false; unfavorable; to the left" (14c.), from Latin sinister "left, on the left side" (opposite of dexter), of uncertain origin. Perhaps meaning properly "the slower or weaker hand" [Tucker], but Klein and Buck suggest it's a euphemism (see left (adj.)) connected with the root of Sanskrit saniyan "more useful, more advantageous." With contrastive or comparative suffix -ter, as in dexter (see dexterity).

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."

Meaning "evil" is from late 15c. Used in heraldry from 1560s to indicate "left, to the left." Bend (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).

英语单词sinister来自拉丁语sinister，本意是“左边的”，是dexter（右边的）的反义词。由于古代欧洲人认为左为凶兆的迷信思想，sinister进入英语后，衍生出“凶兆的，阴险的”等负面含义。

sinister：['sɪnɪstə] adj.阴险的，凶兆的，灾难性的，左边

该词的英语词源请访问找单词词源英文版：sinister 词源，sinister 含义。

来自古法语 sinistre,向左的，不利的，来自拉丁语 sinister,左边。词义演变来自“左”在古代与邪恶，凶恶相联系的隐含义。比较 dextrose,右旋糖，dexterity,灵巧，灵活。