sinistra Italian · revision 38366

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=late 13th century|origins=la sinister}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /siˈnis.tra/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''sinistra''' ''f'' (plural sinistre)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old form is ''sinestra''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|3506)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the feminine of the adjective [[sinistro|t=left]] used as a noun, short for the phrases meaning “left hand” and “left side”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The adjective is [[inh|la|sinister|t=left]], and Latin already used the feminine [[m|la|sinistra]] as a noun for “the left hand, the left”.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary treats the noun as inherited directly from Latin.^(Wiktionary) The adjective survives in [[roa-oit|sinestro]], [[fro|senestre]], [[pro|senestre]] and [[es|siniestro]].^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) Forms with ⟨e⟩ such as this one were remodelled after [[m|la|dexter|t=right]].^(REW 1935)

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+ De Vaan holds that the sense “left” was a later development in Latin, beside the older [[m|la|laevus]] and [[m|la|scaevus]]: the word may be a comparative of a root [[ine-pro|*senh₂-|t=to gain]], “the more favourable side”, a euphemism, but he finds the meaning too vague to be sure.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the noun to the end of the 13th century, and DEI records the old form ''sinestra'' in the 13th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3506) DELI's first record is in Dante, before 1321, for the left hand: in the ''Inferno'' the angel clears the thick air from his face ''menando la sinistra innanzi spesso'' (“often moving his left hand before him”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the hand the word passed to the side or direction on the left, and at sea to the left side of a ship (1786–1803).^(DELI 1999) The political sense comes from the French Revolution, when the progressive deputies sat to the left of the president of the assembly; in Italian it is recorded in a popular political dictionary of 1851.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ The adjective ''sinistro'' kept the Latin sense “unfavourable, ill-omened”, but the noun did not.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Derivatives of the political sense include ''sinistrismo'', ''sinistroide'' and ''sinistrese'', the jargon of the left.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 13th century – ''Sinistra'' (old ''sinestra'') is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3506)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the left hand.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1786–1803 – It is recorded for the port side of a ship.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1851 – It is recorded for the progressive parties in parliament.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|left]] hand: ''Scrive con la sinistra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The left side or direction: ''Gira a sinistra dopo il ponte.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(nautical)'' The left side of a ship, [[m|en|port]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(politics)'' The seats to the left of the president in a parliament; the progressive and socialist parties and their members: ''un governo di sinistra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' The side of a shield to the right of the viewer.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sinistrismo]]

+ * [[sinistroide]]

+ * [[sinistrese]]

+ * [[ultrasinistra]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sinistro]]

+ * [[destra]]

+ * [[mancino]]

+ * [[la|sinister]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ In military and gymnastic commands it is often clipped, as in ''fronte a sinistr’!''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) The opposite is ''destra''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}