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sinistral - adj., of, relating to, or inclined to the left; left-handed.
Because the more ordinary adjectival construction, sinister, has been appropriated to mean ominous. Used since the mid-15th century, from Latin sinistrālis, from sinister, on the left (as well as unlucky). Stress on the first or second syllable, though some dictionaries give only the first, and that sounds more natural to me: SIN-eh-strehl.
---L.
Because the more ordinary adjectival construction, sinister, has been appropriated to mean ominous. Used since the mid-15th century, from Latin sinistrālis, from sinister, on the left (as well as unlucky). Stress on the first or second syllable, though some dictionaries give only the first, and that sounds more natural to me: SIN-eh-strehl.
---L.
