bend sinister
a diagonal band extending from the sinister chief of an escutcheon to the dexter base: a supposed mark of bastardy.
Origin of bend sinister
1Words Nearby bend sinister
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use bend sinister in a sentence
His proud crest and armorial bearings support him: no bend-sinister slurs his poetical escutcheon!
Table-Talk | William HazlittThe bend sinister (Fig. 82), is very frequently stated to be the mark of illegitimacy.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry | Arthur Charles Fox-DaviesCrest: a cornucopia fesswise, surmounted by a dexter hand couped proper, holding a key in bend sinister or.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry | Arthur Charles Fox-DaviesSuch a coat would be "per bend sinister ermine and erminois, a lion rampant counterchanged."
A Complete Guide to Heraldry | Arthur Charles Fox-DaviesThe "barre sinistre" is merely the French translation of bend sinister, the French word "barre" meaning a bend.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry | Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
British Dictionary definitions for bend sinister
heraldry a diagonal line bisecting a shield from the top right to the bottom left, typically indicating a bastard line
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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