something on or towards the left hand. Hence some derive the word sinister à sinendo; because the gods, by such auguries, permit us to proceed in our designs.

Sinister, is ordinarily used among us for unlucky; though, in the sacred rites of divination, the Romans used it in an opposite sense. Thus avis sinistra, or a bird on the left hand, was esteemed a happy omen: whence, in the law of the 12 tables, Ave sinistra populi magister esto.

Heraldry. The sinister side of an es- cutecheon is the left-hand side; the sinister chief, the left angle of the chief; the sinister base, the left-hand part of the base.

Sinister Aspect, among astrologers, is an appear- ance of two planets happening according to the succes- sion of the signs; as Saturn in Aries, and Mars in the same degree of Gemini.