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
All these families bear the arms described by your correspondent, but without the bend sinister.
From Notes and Queries, Number 51, October 19, 1850 by Various
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
Thus a bend proceeding from the top of the left side of the shield is called a bend sinister.
From The Manual of Heraldry; Fifth Edition Being a Concise Description of the Several Terms Used, and Containing a Dictionary of Every Designation in the Science by Anonymous
To which I could only reply, "Madam, I have never yet discovered the bend sinister on our escutcheon."
