bend sinister

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That in heraldry, a bend sinister indicates bastardy.

From New York Times • Dec. 19, 2019

His descent was noble on one side, with or without the bend sinister, which he said he would never have disclaimed, had it been his, but which he did not happen to inherit. 

From Essays in Little by Lang, Andrew

By what legitimatizing process the bend sinister was erased, and the marquisate preserved, we have hitherto been unable to ascertain.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847 by Various

An ordinary with its ends cut off, borne sinister as a mark of bastardy, and containing one fourth in breadth of the bend sinister; Ð called also bastard bar.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah

For all of the bend sinister upon his escutcheon, Reginald Maltravers was as fanatical concerning the family as his father.

From The Cruise of the Jasper B. by Marquis, Don