Think of the word sinister. What comes to mind? A shadowy figure in a dark alley? The villain in a spy thriller stroking a white cat? A low, ominous chord in a horror movie? The word is drenched in connotations of evil, malevolence, and impending doom. But what if I told you that this potent word for evil began its life as a simple, neutral direction? In Latin, sinister means, quite simply, “left.”
The journey of sinister from a directional term to a synonym for wickedness is a fascinating story. It’s a linguistic fossil that preserves thousands of years of human suspicion, superstition, and bias against about 10% of the population: left-handers. This isn’t just a quirk of Latin and English; it’s a window into a prejudice that spans the globe.
The Right and Wrong of Ancient Rome
Our story begins in ancient Rome, where divination and the interpretation of omens—a practice known as augury—were a serious part of religious and political life. An augur would observe natural signs, particularly the flight of birds, to determine the will of the gods. The direction from which these signs appeared was crucial.
An omen appearing on the right-hand side, or dexter, was generally considered favorable. The word dexter is the root of our modern English words dexterity and dextrous, both of which mean skillful, clever, and agile. The right hand was the hand of strength, skill, and good fortune.
Conversely, an omen appearing on the left-hand side, or sinister, was seen as unlucky and ill-boding. A sinistrum augurium, or “left-handed omen”, was a sign of divine disapproval. While some early Roman traditions viewed the left as favorable (because it was the direction from which thunder originated for the augur), the negative association eventually won out and became dominant. The left was the side of weakness, bad luck, and ominous portents. The linguistic seeds of “evil” were sown.
A Cross-Cultural Consensus
This bias against the left was far from a uniquely Roman phenomenon. The association of “right” with “good/correct” and “left” with “bad/awkward” is astonishingly widespread across languages and cultures, a testament to the powerful influence of a right-handed majority.
Take a look at how this plays out in other languages:
- In French, the word for left is gauche. In English, calling someone gauche means they are socially awkward, clumsy, and unsophisticated. The French word for right, droit, also means “law” or “right” in the sense of a legal entitlement.
- In German, links means left, but the adjective linkisch means “awkward” or “clumsy.” The word for right, recht, also means “right” or “law.”
- In Spanish, the old word for left was siniestro, which now almost exclusively means “sinister” or “malevolent” (the more common word for left is now izquierdo).
- In Italian, mancino means left-handed, but can also carry connotations of dishonesty or deceit.
The pattern is clear. Languages around the world have encoded the idea that the right hand is correct and capable, while the left is somehow deviant and suspect.
Religion, Superstition, and the Devil’s Hand
This linguistic prejudice was reinforced and amplified by cultural and religious practices. In many major religions, the right hand is given a place of supreme honor.
In the Christian Bible (Matthew 25:33-41), God separates the nations at the Last Judgment, placing the righteous sheep on his right hand to receive their eternal reward, and the cursed goats on his left hand to be cast into eternal fire. The “right hand of God” is a symbol of power and favor throughout the scripture.
In Islam, the right hand is reserved for “clean” tasks like eating, drinking, and greeting others. The left hand is traditionally used for “unclean” tasks like personal hygiene, making it taboo to offer it in a handshake or use it for handling food.
This deep-seated stigma bled into folklore and superstition. During the European witch hunts, left-handedness was often considered evidence of witchcraft. The devil himself was frequently depicted as being left-handed, and it was believed he would baptize his followers using his left hand. To make the sign of the cross with the left hand was seen as an act of blasphemy, an invocation of Satan.
For centuries, this superstition had painful, real-world consequences. Left-handed children were seen as stubborn and defiant. In schools across Europe and America, they were often punished and forced to write with their right hands, sometimes by having their left hand tied behind their back. This practice, intended to “correct” a perceived flaw, often led to developmental issues like stuttering, dyslexia, and emotional distress.
From Heraldry to Horror
So how did the word sinister make its final leap in English? The word entered our language from Old French (senestre) and for a time, retained a neutral, technical meaning in one specific field: heraldry.
In the system of describing coats of arms, “sinister” refers to the left side of the shield from the perspective of the person carrying it. The “dexter” is the bearer’s right. Because the negative connotations from its Latin origin and the overwhelming cultural bias were so strong, it was only a matter of time before they bled over completely. By the 17th century, the ominous, threatening meaning of sinister had become its primary sense in English, eclipsing its heraldic and directional origins in everyday use.
Reclaiming the Left
Today, thankfully, much of this ancient prejudice has faded. Science has shown us that handedness is a complex neurological trait, not a moral failing or a sign of demonic influence. We celebrate the creativity and unique thinking often associated with left-handers, from Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein to Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
Yet, the word sinister remains, a permanent stain in our vocabulary. It stands as a powerful reminder of how easily “different” can become “bad”, and how a simple physical trait can be twisted by superstition into something to be feared. Language is a living history book, and the story of sinister is a dark, fascinating chapter on how culture can shape the very words we speak.