Etymology

sinister

si·ni·ster
S1I1N1I1S1T1E1R1

Today it means: Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate. Full definition →

Middle English sinistre ← Old French senestre ← Late Latin sinextrum
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*senh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*senh₂-is-?
  3. Proto-Italic*senisteros
  4. Latinsinister
  5. Late Latinsinextrum
  6. Old Frenchsenestre
  7. Middle Englishsinistre
  8. English todaysinister

From Middle English sinistre (“unlucky”), from Old French senestre, sinistre (“left”), from Latin sinister (“left hand”).

Words from the same roots

Latinsinister all →

sinistrinsinistro-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.