senestre

See also: sénestre

French

Alternative forms

• sénestre, senêtre

Etymology

From Middle French senestre, from Old French senestre, from Late Latin sinextrum, from Latin sinistrum. Doublet of sinistre, a borrowing from Latin.

The expected result of the Middle French senestre, pronounced approximately as /səˈnɛːtrə/, should have been senêtre in modern French (which does exist in heraldic jargon). A spelling-pronunciation, with etymologically restored /s/, came to predominate as the word became increasingly archaic, having been driven out of common usage as the word for "left" by gauche in the sixteenth century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə.nɛstʁ/, /se.nɛstʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

senestre (plural senestres)

1. (dated) (on the) left
2. (heraldry) sinister; left-hand side of the shield

See also

• sinistre
• gauche

References

• “senestre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French senestre.

Noun

senestre m (uncountable)

1. left (left-hand side)

Descendants

• French: senestre, sénestre, senêtre

Old French

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin sinextrum, from Latin sinistrum.

Pronunciation

• (classical) IPA^(key): /səˈnɛstɾə/
• (late) IPA^(key): /səˈnɛːtɾə/

Adjective

senestre m (oblique and nominative feminine singular senestre)

1. left (on the left-hand side)

Declension

Declension of senestre

Number	Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	Subject	senestres	senestre	senestre
	Oblique	senestre	senestre	senestre
Plural	Subject	senestre	senestres	senestre
	Oblique	senestres	senestres	senestre

Descendants

• Middle French: senestre
  • French: senestre, sénestre, senêtre
• Norman: s'nêtre