sinister

An Elementary Latin Dictionary

sinister tra, trum, adj., with comp.

a double comp.of uncertain origin, left, on the left, on the left hand, at the left side : in sinistro cornu, on the left wing , Cs.: angulus castrorum, Cs.: ripa, H.: tibia, Ph.: manus, N.—As subst f . (sc. manus): sinistrā inpeditā, Cs.: natae ad furta sinistrae, O.: a sinistrā, on the left : miles dextrā ac sinistrā muro tectus, Cs.—Plur m . as subst.(sc. ordines): sinistris additae vires (opp. dextra pars), L.: sinisterior rota, O.—In augury (because the Roman augurs faced south, with the propitious East on the left), favorable, auspicious, fortunate, lucky : ita nobis sinistra videntur, Graiis et barbaris dextra, meliora: cornix, V.: tonitrūs, O.—(As in Greek augury, where the face was northward), unlucky, unfavorable, inauspicious : Di, precor, a nobis omen removete sinistrum, O.: avibus sinistris, O.: sinistrum fulmen nuntiare.—Fig., wrong, perverse, improper : mores, V.: natura, Cu.— Unlucky, injurious, adverse, unfavorable, bad : Notus pecori sinister, V.: interpretatio, Ta.—As subst n. : (matrona) studiosa sinistri, of evil , O.