pearl

pearl (countable and uncountable, plural pearls)

Horace
Jean Jannon
New Testament
Vergil
en:pearl
en:pearl (disambiguation)
en:pearl (typography)

From Middle English perle, from Old French perle of uncertain etymology. Probably via unattested Medieval Latin *pernula, from Latin perna (“haunch; a marine bivalve shaped like a leg of lamb”) but also derived from Medieval Latin perla, from Latin perula (“little bag”). Its typographic use follows the name given by Jean Jannon to the type used in his miniature editions of Vergil, Horace, & the New Testament in the 1620s, which were the smallest printed works to his time. Its surfing use derives from the supposed resemblance to pearl diving.

der

Errol. Pearl three Escutcheons Ruby. / Elgin. Topaz a Saltier and Chief Ruby, on a Canton Pearl a Lyon Rampant Saphyr, which last is their paternal Coat; and the Field Topaz, and Saltier, and Chief Ruby, was the Arms of King Robert the Bruce, they altering the Field from Pearl (as he bore it) to Topaz.

1720, Francis Nichols, Rudiments of Honour, page 296:

The Field is Ruby, on a Bend Topaz, three Martlets Diamond. The Armes of the most Noble and Puissant Lord, Edward Brabazon, Earl of Meath, and Baron of Atherdee in the Kingdom of Ireland. His Lordship's Atchievements are Quarterly of sixteen Coats. 1. Brabazon, as above. 2. Diamond, on a Chevron between three Pickaxes Pearl, as many Mullets Ruby, by the Name of Mosley. 3. Saphire, ten Bezants, 4, 3, 2, 1, by the Bisset. 4. Pearl, on a Bend Diamond, nine Annulets conjoined in three Links Topaz.

1726, John Guillim, The Banner Display'd; Or, an Abridgment of Guillim, page 504:

(1) Pearl, a Cross, Ruby, with the Effigies of our Saviour thereon, Topaz, born in Memory of one of the Family's fighting against the Turks.

1754, John Lodge, The Peerage of Ireland; Or, a Genealogical History of the ..., page 71:

(heraldry) Argent, in blazoning by precious stones.


sanguine

en-noun

sanguine (countable and uncountable, plural sanguines)

From Middle English sanguine, from Old French sanguin, ultimately from Latin sanguineus (“of blood”), from sanguis (“blood”), of uncertain origin, perhaps Proto-Indo-European *h₁sh₂-én-, from *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”). Doublet of sanguineous.

(heraldry) A tincture, seldom used, of a blood-red colour (not to be confused with murrey).


wavy

en-adj

wavy (comparative wavier, superlative waviest)

wavier (comparative)
waviest (superlative)
wavey (alternative uncommon)

Per pale erm. and az. a fess wavy gu.

1874, John Woody Papworth, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland: Forming an Extensive Ordinary of British Armorials; Upon an Entirely New Plan ..., page 708:

Parted per fess wavy gu. and arg.; over all a lion passant sa. pierced with a dagger ppr., hafted and pommelled of the second, the haft appearing between the shoulders and the point under the belly, tending towards the hind legs[…]

1893, James Balfour Paul, An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, page 105:

(heraldry) Undé, in a wavy line; applied to ordinaries, or division lines, especially to symbolize a river.


wreath

From Middle English wreth, wrethe (“coiled or rounded shape; decorative garland, wreath; chaplet, crown; ring”, noun), from Old English wrǣd, wrǣþ, wriþa (“bandage”), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīþan (“to twist; to weave”), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist; to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”). Doublet of wreathe and writhe.

inh

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(heraldry) An appendage to the shield, placed above it, and supporting the crest; an orle, a torse. It generally represents a twist of two cords of silk, one tinctured like the principal metal, the other like the principal color in the coat of arms.


argent

en-noun

argent (countable and uncountable, plural argents)

argents (plural)
arg. (alternative)
a. (alternative)

From Middle English argent, from Old French argent m (“silver”), from Latin argentum n (“white money, silver”).

der

argent:

The metals are gold and silver, these being termed "or" and "argent".

1909, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry:

(heraldry) The white or silver tincture on a coat of arms.


argent

... when the shield is argent, it is shown in an engraving by being left plain.

1889, Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry:

(heraldry): of white or silver tincture on a coat of arms.


honor

en-noun

honor (countable and uncountable, plural honors)

honors (plural)
honour (alternative British Commonwealth Ireland)

From Middle English honour, honor, honur, from Anglo-Norman honour, honur, from Old French honor, from Latin honor.
Displaced Middle English menske (“honor, dignity among men”), from Old Norse menskr (“honor”).
The verb is from Middle English honouren, honuren (“to honor”).

оньо́р

card games: one of the most valuable cards

a prophet has no honor in his own country

a prophet is not without honor save in his own country

(heraldry, countable) The center point of the upper half of an armorial escutcheon (compare honour point).

lakipiste

heraldry: centre point of the upper half of a coat of arms


addorsed

From Latin ad dorsum (“to the back”). Compare French adossé.

EDGHILL, a falcon, wings addorsed and inverted, supporting with dexter a carved shield, charged with a cinquefoil, […]

2012 February 3, James Fairbairn, Fairbairn’s Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland, Andrews UK Limited, →ISBN, page 165:

(heraldry, of animals or wings) Set back to back, facing away from each other.


mullet

From Middle English molet, from Old French molette (“rowel”).

Grogan, Creation of 1859, or Moyvore, Westmeath. [...] Arms,—Barry of sex or and sable, on a chief engrailed azure a lion passant of the first. Crest,—A lion's head erased sable, charged with a mullet or.

1871, Debrett's illustrated baronetage and knightage (and companionage) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, page 215:

(heraldry) A star with straight edges and usually with five or six points.


nascent

Borrowed from Latin nāscēns, nāscentis, present participle of nāscor (“I am born”). Doublet of naissant.

[…] charges of blazonry, bends sinister and bends dexter, lions couchant, lions nascent, and[…]

1874, G. Cameron, Charlie Lufton: An Autobiographical Novel, page 130:

Marks of the makers : the initials of the maker and the arms of the town : a lion nascent with three flames.

1931, Louis Carré, A Guide to Old French Plate:

[...] in chief a demi lion nascent gules.

1978, Paul J. Vandevander, The Van Deventer Family, 1550-1977:


mount

From Middle English mount, munt, from Old English munt, from Latin mōns (“a hill, mountain”), from a root seen also in ēmineō (“I project, I protrude”) (English eminent). Doublet of mons.

(heraldry) A green hillock in the base of a shield.


scalp

→ Danish: skalp

→ Dutch: scalp

→ Esperanto: skalpo

→ German: Skalp

→ Hungarian: skalp

→ Italian: scalpo

→ Latvian: skalps

→ Macedonian: скалп (skalp)

→ Portuguese: escalpo

→ Russian: скальп (skalʹp)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ска̏лп (skȁlp)

→ Swedish: skalp

From Middle English scalp, skalp, scalpe (“crown of the head; skull”). Originally a northern word, and therefore probably from a North Germanic source, although the sense-development is unclear; compare Sylt North Frisian Skolp (“dandruff”), Old Norse skálpr (“sheath”), Old Swedish skalp, Dutch schelp (“shell”).

He bears for Arms : Argent, on a chevron invected gules, between two bugle-horns sable, stringed of the second in chief, and the attires of a stag affixed to the scalp in base of the third, two fasces chevronways or.

1899, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families: A Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, Showing which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, page 313:

The part of the head where the hair grows from, or used to grow from.

(heraldry) The skin of the head of a stag, to which the horns are attached.


helm

From Middle English helm (“helmet; crown of thorns of Jesus; warrior; inn or shop sign”) [and other forms], from Old English helm (“helmet”), from Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (“protective covering”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelmos, from the root *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of heaume and related to helmet.
Cognates
* Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐌼𐍃 (hilms)
* Old Frisian helm (West Frisian helm)
* Old High German helm (Middle High German helm, modern German Helm; Italian elmo; Old French helme, modern French heaume; Spanish yelmo)
* Old Norse hjalmr (Danish hjelm, Norwegian hjelm, Swedish hjälm)
* Old Saxon helm (Low German Helm, Middle Dutch helm, modern Dutch helm)

inh

(heraldry) Synonym of helmet (“the feature above a shield on a coat of arms”).


attire

en-noun

attire (countable and uncountable, plural attires)

The verb is from Middle English atyren, atiren, from Old French atirier (“to equip”), from a- + tire (“rank”), akin to German Zier (“ornament”) and Old Norse tírr (“glory, renown”).
The noun is from Middle English atir, from the verb.

The latter sign, however, may have some heraldic significance, as Larwood and Hotten mention a London token of 1666 on which a horseshoe is represented within a pair of antlers or deer's attires.

1887, Miller Christy, The Trade Signs of Essex: A Popular Account of the Origin and Meanings of the Public House & Other Signs Now Or Formerly Found in the County of Essex, page 51:

(heraldry) The single horn of a goat, deer or stag.


fillet

From Middle English filet, vylette, felet, filette, flette, from Old French filet, diminutive of fil (“thread”), from Latin fīlum (“thread”).

(heraldry) An ordinary equal in breadth to one quarter of the chief, to the lowest portion of which it corresponds in position.


deface

en-verb

deface (third-person singular simple present defaces, present participle defacing, simple past and past participle defaced)

defaces (present singular third-person)
defacing (participle present)
defaced (participle past)
defaced (past)

From Middle English defacen, from Old French defacier, desfacier (“to mutilate, destroy, disfigure”), from des- (“away from”) (see dis-) + Late Latin facia.

You get the Finnish state flag by defacing the national flag with the state coat of arms placed in the middle of the cross.

(heraldry, flags) To alter a coat of arms or a flag by adding an element to it.

muunnella

heraldry: to alter by adding a new element


lily

lilies (plural)
lilly (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English lilie, from Old English lilie, from Latin līlia, plural of līlium, from Ancient Greek λείριον (leírion). See there for more.

(heraldry) The flower used as a heraldic charge; also commonly used to describe the fleur-de-lis.


radiant

en-adj

radiant (comparative more radiant, superlative most radiant)

more radiant (comparative)
most radiant (superlative)
radient (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English radyant, from Latin radiāns, radiantis, present participle of radiāre (“to emit rays or beams”).

the sun radiant;  a crown radiant

(heraldry) Giving off rays; said of a bearing.


relief

en-noun

relief (countable and uncountable, plural reliefs)

From Italian rilievo, from rilevare (“to raise”), from Latin relevō (“to raise”).

(heraldry) The supposed projection of a charge from the surface of a field, indicated by shading on the sinister and lower sides.


bearing

From Middle English bering, beringe, berynge, equivalent to bear + -ing.

Holonyms: shield, escutcheon

Jos Sedley's open carriage, with its magnificent armorial bearings.

1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo:

(heraldry) Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms.


console

Borrowed from French console (“bracket”, noun), from consoler (“to console, to comfort”, verb).
Sense of “bracket” either due to a bracket alleviating the load, or due to brackets being decorated with the Christian figure of a consolateur (“consoler”), itself perhaps a pun on the first sense (alleviating load).
Originally used for the bracket itself, then for wall-mounted tables (mounted with a bracket), then for free-standing tables placed against a wall. Use for control system dates at least to 1880s for an “organ console”; use for electrical or electronic control systems dates at least to 1930s in radio, television, and system control, particularly as “mixer console” or “control console”, attached to an equipment rack. This was popularized in computers by mainframes such as the IBM 704 (1954) in terms such as “operator’s console” or “console typewriter”, and then generalized to any attached equipment, particularly for user interaction. The automotive sense harks back to earlier use as “support”.

On an attractive console with two winged putti as supporters [...] is a marriage coat of arms : Dexter, the Paoli arms : Gules (base), a bend azure charged with five lilies gules, and or (chief); Sinister, the[…]

1919, Allan Marquand, Robbia Heraldry, page 60:

The only authentic reference for the tincture of the shield still in existence is the armorial console in Jacques Coeur's chapel[…]

1994, James H. Marrow, François Avril, The Hours of Simon de Varie, Getty Publications, →ISBN, page 134:

(heraldry) A decorative frame or support (in architecture, drawings, etc) around a heraldic shield.


rebus

rebus (plural rebuses or (rare) rebusses or (hypercorrect, rare) rebi)

rebuses (plural)
rebusses (plural rare)
rebi (hypercorrect plural rare)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-rebus.wav

Gilles Ménage
Oxford English Dictionary
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Princess Beatrice
Sarah, Duchess of York

From French rébus (“rebus (puzzle); ambiguity; word used in an oblique sense; unintelligible remark”), or directly from its probable etymon Latin rēbus, the ablative plural of rēs (“object, stuff, thing; issue, matter, subject, topic”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“goods; wealth”). The connection between the English word and its Latin etymon is unclear.
further etymology
The following possibilities have been suggested, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary are problematic:
* According to the French scholar Gilles Ménage (1613–1692) in Les origines de la langue françoise (The Origins of the French Language, 1650), it is taken from the phrase de rebus quae geruntur (“concerning the things that are taking place”) which was used in 16th-century Picardy as the name for satirical writings on contemporary subjects containing picture-riddles that were composed for an annual carnival. However, the term rebus de Picardie is first attested later than the word rébus, and so could simply refer to rebuses popular in Picardy at the time.
* Alternatively, it could be from the phrase nōn verbīs sed rēbus meaning “not by words but by things”, but this “encounters difficulties in the chronology of the senses in French”.

der

The prior [Will Bolton] used to come out here to hunt in summer and recreate himself, and his rebus—a barrel or tun shot through with a crossbow bolt—is set into the garden walls.

2020 March 5, Hilary Mantel, “Salvage: London, Summer 1536”, in The Mirror & the Light, London: 4th Estate, →ISBN, page 122:

(specifically, heraldry) An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs.


impresa

impresas (plural)
imprese (alternative)
impress (alternative)

1613, John Webster, “A Monumental Column, A Funeral Elegy” in Three Elegies on the most lamented Death of Prince Henrie, London: William Welbie,
My impresa to your lordship; a swan
Flying to a laurel for shelter.

[…] or to describe Races and Games,
Or tilting Furniture, emblazon’d Shields,
Impreses quaint, Caparisons and Steeds;

1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost_(1674)/Book_IX), Book 9, lines 33-35:

(heraldry) A device on a shield or seal, or used as a bookplate etc.


billet

From Middle English billet, bylet, belet, billette, from Old French billette, from bille (“log, tree trunk”), from Vulgar Latin *bilia, probably of Gaulish origin (compare Old Irish bile (“tree”)).

(heraldry) A rectangle used as a charge on an escutcheon.


herald

From Latin heraldus, from Middle English herald, herauld, heraud, from Anglo-Norman heraud, from Old French heraut, hiraut (modern French héraut), from Frankish *heriwald, from Proto-Germanic *harjawaldaz, a compound consisting of Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“army”) + *h₂welh₁- (“to be strong”). Doublet of Harold and Harald; compare Walter, which has these elements reversed.

Rouge Dragon is a herald at the College of Arms.

(heraldry) An official whose speciality is heraldry, especially one between the ranks of pursuivant and king-of-arms

သံတော်ဆင့်

an official whose speciality is heraldry


defame

From Middle English defamen, from Anglo-Norman defamer (verb), defame (noun), and its source, Latin diffāmō, from fāma (“fame; rumour; reputation”).


pavilion

From Middle English pavilloun, from Anglo-Norman pavilloun, from Latin pāpiliōnem, form of pāpiliō (“butterfly, moth”) (due to resemblance of tent to a butterfly’s wings), of unknown origin. Doublet of papillon.
Cognate to French pavillon (“pavilion”) and papillon (“butterfly”), and similar terms in other Romance languages.

(heraldry) An ornate tent, used either as a charge or bearing, or surrounding a shield as or atop the mantling.


gore

Gore (fabrics)
Gore (heraldry)
Gore (road)
Gore (segment)
Gore (surveying)

From Middle English gore (“patch (of land, fabric), clothes”), from Old English gāra, from Proto-Germanic *gaizô.

inh

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

(heraldry) A charge, delineated by two inwardly curved lines, starting respectively from the middle base corner and one of the two chief corners and meeting in the fess point.


overt

From Middle English overt, uverte (“open, uncovered; unfastened; accessible, unobstructed; clear, manifest”), from Anglo-Norman overt, Middle French ouvert, Old French overt, ouvert, uvert (“opened”) (modern French ouvert), past participle of Anglo-Norman, Old French ovrir, ouvrir, uvrir (“to open”), from Late Latin operire, variant of Latin aperīre (“to open”), from aperiō (“to open, uncover”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“away; from”) + *h₂wer- (“to cover, shut”). The English word is a doublet of apert and ouvert.

der

Arg. an eagle rising wings overt inverted sa. armed or. HILTOFTE, V.

1874, John Woody Papworth, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, page 298:


overture

/ˈəʊvətʃ(ʊ)ə/

/ˈoʊvəɹt͡ʃəɹ/

From Middle English overture, from Anglo-Norman, Middle French overture, from Old French overture. Doublet of aperture.

Crest : A falcon, wings overture.

1887, Edmund Farrer, The Church Heraldry of Norfolk, page 74:

It may be with wings close, i.e. closed, or it may be with its wings elevated, or it may be with wings disclosed, i.e. somewhat open, but inverted, and pointing downwards (and this is practically the same as the expression overt, written sometimes overture). [...]
Argent, an eagle recursant wings overture sable - BACK.
Argent, an eagle rising, wings overt inverted gules, standing on a baston raguly in bend vert - William PORTER.

1894, Henry Gough, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, page 215:

[...] charged with a cross patty gules, and perched thereon a bird contourne reguardant, its wings overture, of the second; […]

1992, Donald R. Mandich, Joseph Anthony Placek, Russian Heraldry and Nobility, Dramco:

(heraldry, nonstandard) Overt, that is, disclosed.


situate

en-adj

situate (comparative more situate, superlative most situate)

more situate (comparative)
most situate (superlative)
scituate (alternative)

Borrowed from Late Latin situātus, past participle of Medieval Latin situō (“to locate, place”), from Latin situs (“a site”).

der

[...] graunted unto ye sayd Arthure Herrys for his Creast on the heaulme a Stagges head losengy couppe siluer & gules horned gold situate on a wreathe gold & azure mantelled gules doubled siluer which togither w ye sayd ancient Armes viz[…] In the yere of our Lord God MCCCCClxxviij […]

1917, Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica, page 218:

The arms of the College of Surgeons in Endinburgh, I fancy, afford the only instance of what is presumably a corpse, the blazon being: "Azure, a man (human body) fesswise between a dexter hand having an eye on the palm issuing out of a cloud downward and a castle situate on a rock proper, within a bordure or charged with several instruments peculiar to the art (sic); on a canton of the first a saltire argent surmounted of a thistle vert, crowned of the third."

2013, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide To Heraldry, →ISBN:


tawny

en-noun

tawny (countable and uncountable, plural tawnies or tawnys)

From Middle English tauni, tawne (“brownish-orange colour; cloth of this colour; sweet beverage of this colour”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman tawné, and Old French tané, tanné, tanney (“tan colour; cloth of this colour”), from tané (verb): see further at etymology 1.
Sense 2.1 (“Eurasian bullfinch”) is due to the brown colour of the female.

kellanruskea

something of a light brown or brownish orange colour

[T]he Herehaught [herald] muſt have a ſinguler reſpect to the face of him that ſhould haue the Armes, vvhere he ſhal vvel perceiue in vvhat ſeaſõ of the yere, his ovvn complexion vvill ſerue him to do beſt ſeruice in: […] If in Somer, either a Hound or Salamandra, or ſome part of them, of the colour Bruske, vvhich is betvveene Geules and tavvney.

1597, Gerard Leigh [i.e., Gerard Legh], The Accedence of Armorie, London: […] Henrie Ballard […], →OCLC, folio 116, verso:

Tavvny (ſaith Leigh [i.e., Gerard Legh]) is a Colour of vvorſhip, and of ſome Heralds it is called Bruske, and is moſt commonly borne of French Gentlemen, but very fevv doe beare it in England. In Blazon it is knovvne by the name of Tenne. It is (ſaith he) the ſureſt colour that is (of ſo bright a hevv being compounded) for it is made of tvvo bright Colours, vvhich are Red and Yellovv: […]

1632, John Guillim, “Sect[ion] I. Chap[ter] III.”, in A Display of Heraldrie: […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Badger for Ralph Mab, →OCLC, page 21:

Tenne, vvhich is the tavvny or Orange colour, is marked by diagonal lines dravvn from the Siniſter to the Dexter ſide of the Shield, traverſed by perpendicular lines from the Chief; […]

1765, Mark Anthony Porny [pseudonym; Antoine Pyron du Martre], “Of the Essential and Integral Parts of Arms. Article II. Of the Tinctures.”, in The Elements of Heraldry, […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, section I (Of Colours), page 17:

Some heraldic writers extend the number of tinctures to seven, by the addition of sanguine or murrey, dark blood or mulberry-colour, and tenné, tawny, or orange-colour; while others who admit them into the catalogue declare them, at the same time, to be stainant, or disgraceful; but, as I have stated in my notice of Abatements (p. 171), it is very improbable any one would bear arms so degraded; and the strongest proof that no such opinion with respect to these two colours existed in the days of chivalry is, that the livery colours of the house of York were murrey and blue, and that tawny was apparently much affected by the retainers of the nobility and Church dignitaries.

1859 April, J[ames] R[obinson] Planché, “Appendix”, in The Pursuivant of Arms; or, Heraldry Founded upon Facts. […], new edition, London: Robert Hardwicke, […], →OCLC, page 209:

A light brown to brownish orange colour.

(specifically, heraldry) Synonym of tenné (“a rarely-used tincture of orange or bright brown”).


vigilant

en-adj

vigilant (comparative more vigilant, superlative most vigilant)

more vigilant (comparative)
most vigilant (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-vigilant.wav

From French vigilant or its source, Latin vigilans, present participle of vigilare (“stay awake”), from vigil (“awake”). Doublet of vigilante, from Spanish. Displaced Old English wacor.

von der LUTKE / Argent, a crane vigilant proper. AG. Carl von der Lutke. Arr. 1857 with the British German Crimea legion. Obtained a grant of land in the Eastern Province of the Cape Colony.

1972, C. Pama, Heraldry of South African Families: Coats of Arms/ Crests/ Ancestry:

[...] and sharing the same heraldry : argent, a crane, vigilant, or,[…]

1997, Saint Thomas More, More to Cranevelt, Leuven University Press, →ISBN, page 23:


endorse

endorses (plural)
indorse (alternative rare)
endoce (alternative obsolete)

Alteration influenced by Medieval Latin indorsare of Middle English endosse, from Old French endosser (“to put on the back”), from Latin dossum, alternative form of dorsum (“back”), from which also dorsal (“of the back”). That is, the ‘r’ was dropped in Latin dossum, which developed into Old French and then Middle English endosse, and then the ‘r’ was re-introduced into English via the Medieval Latin indorsare, which had retained the ‘r’. Note that the alternative spelling indorse also uses the initial ‘i’ from Latin (in-, rather than en-), but this form is now rare.

der

(heraldry) A diminutive of the pale, usually appearing in pairs on either side of a pale.


blackamoor

blackamoors (plural)
blackamore (alternative)
blackemore (alternative)
blackemoor (alternative)
blackymore (alternative Scotland)
blackmoor (alternative obsolete)

From earlier blackmoor + -a-. By surface analysis, black + -a- + Moor.

Argent, three blackamoors’ heads couped sable, capped or, fretty gules.

`Well, Job,' I said, `perhaps it would be as well. There are lots of blankets there, only be careful to keep out of the moon, or it may turn your head or blind you.' `Lord, sir! I don't think it would much matter if it did; it is that turned already with the sight of these blackamoors and their filthy, thieving ways.'

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Go venture shipwreck on the sullen coasts
Where blackamoors make captive Christian men ...

1935, T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral, Part II:

"What!" exclaimed the Prince, "the music is by the blackamoor (a black Moor). Well, my fine blackamoor, henceforth thou art in my service."

2003, Dr. Kwaku Person-Lynn, Beethoven: Revealing His True Identity:

What had Pringle done to merit such a severe penalty? He had said to Adusei during a criminal trial, "How's the blackamoor?". The Tribunal found that this was offensive, which clearly it was, and constituted an act of racial discrimination.

2002, Barbara Hewson, An English Bar Disciplinary Tribunal went over the top when dealing with a racial harassment case.:

Gage noted the clothing of the slaves of the Spanish nobles, and silk was common to them. "The gentlemen have their train of blackamoor slaves, some a dozen, some half a dozen, waiting on them, in brave and gallant liveries, heavy with gold and silver lace, with silk stockings on their black legs, and roses on their feet, and swords by their sides."

1958, Maurice W. Connell, The Prophet Said Silk (http://www.shields-research.org/Scriptures/BoM/SILK02.html), citing Thomas Gage's Travels in the New World, J. Eric S. Thompson (editor), page 73

(archaic, heraldry, now offensive) A person with dark black skin, especially one from north Africa.


emblazon

en-verb

emblazon (third-person singular simple present emblazons, present participle emblazoning, simple past and past participle emblazoned)

emblazons (present singular third-person)
emblazoning (participle present)
emblazoned (participle past)
emblazoned (past)

From en- + blazon, from Old French blason (“shield”).

(transitive, heraldry) To draw (a coat of arms).

heraldikus díszítéssel lát el (pl. címert)


erect

en-adj

erect (comparative more erect, superlative most erect)

more erect (comparative)
most erect (superlative)

flaccid

antonym(s) of “rigid, standing out perpendicularly”

From Middle English erect, a borrowing from Latin ērectus (“upright”), past participle of ērigō (“raise, set up”), from ē- (“out”) + regō (“to direct, keep straight, guide”).

(heraldry) Elevated, as the tips of wings, heads of serpents, etc.


supporter

From Middle English supporter, supportour, equivalent to support + -er.

[…] I am fully perſuaded that there cannot remain a doubt of the uſe of ſupporters having originated from the fancy of ſeal-engravers. Supporters were likewiſe anciently uſed by divers perſons in private life, as appears by their ſeals, who had offices of high dignity in the ſtate, and more eſpecially by thoſe whoſe employments had the title of Lord prefixed to the ſtile; as Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Preſident of the Council, Lord of the Marches of Wales, Lord Warden of the Stanneries, &c.

1780, Joseph Edmondson, [Joseph Ayloffe], “Marshalling”, in A Complete Body of Heraldry: … Glover's Ordinary of Arms, Augmented and Improved; an Alphabet of Arms, Containing upwards of Fifty Thousand Coats, with their Crests, &c. and a Copious Glossary, Explaining All the Technical Terms Used in Heraldry. In Two Volumes. Illustrated with Copper-plates, volume I, London: Printed for the author, by T. Spilsbury, Snowhill; and sold by J[ames] Dodsley, in Pall-Mall; T[homas] Payne and Son, at the Meuse-Gate; J[ames] Robson, in Bond-Street; J[ohn] Walter, Charing-Cross; J. Ridley, in St. James's Street; and R. Faulder, in Bond-Street, →OCLC, page 192:

The Unicorn is the well-known dexter Supporter of England. […] A pair of unicorns also support the shield of the Duke of Rutland. […] A Monster, a compound of a Lion and a Fish, or a Sea-Lion, is known in the fabulous menagerie of Heraldry. Two of these Sea-Lions are Supporters of the Viscount Falmouth. So are the Pegasus[…], the winged Horse of Classic antiquity, the dexter Supporter of the Baron Berwick; […]

1864, Charles Boutell, “Miscellaneous Charges: Part II., Animate Beings”, in Heraldry, Historical and Popular. … With Nine Hundred and Seventy-five Illustrations, 3rd rev. and enl. edition, London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty, →OCLC, page 68:

(heraldry) An animal or figure that supports a shield in a coat of arms.


natant

natant (comparative more natant, superlative most natant)

more natant (comparative)
most natant (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin natāntem, accusative of natāns. Doublet of naiant.

(heraldry) In a horizontal position, as if swimming.


fraise

Borrowed from French fraise (“strawberry”), from earlier *fraige, from Latin frāga.

The surname of Bernard is derived from the ancestor carrying, for his device, Argent, a bear rampant sable muzzled or; the name of Frazer from the bearing of fraises or strawberry leaves; and many other instances might be adduced ...

1846, William Newton (Patent Agent), A Display of Heraldry, page 352

Az. a fraise arg. between three garbs or, all within a bordure engrailed of the second. George Cumming (1790)

1893, Sir James Balfour Paul, An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, page 112:

The Emperor also gave the family three fraises, or stalked strawberries, for their coat of arms.

2015, Howard Belton, A History of the World in Five Menus:

(heraldry) A stylized strawberry with leaves.


rising

(heraldry, of a bird) Having its wings raised (either addorsed or sometimes displayed), standing on the tips of its feet as if about to take flight, typically depicted in profile.


barrulet

(heraldry) The smallest diminutive of the bar, one quarter as wide.


at bay

(heraldry) Of an animal, especially a docile animal in contrast to a predatory animal which would be blazoned statant: standing, in profile toward dexter, with all four feet on the ground. (If gazing at the viewer, the animal is at gaze.)


abaissé

Borrowed from French abaissé (“to lower”).

Or, a bend sable, on a chief of the first a pomeis charged with a cross gold; the whole abaissé under another chief of the arms of the Order of St. John, Gules a cross argent.

1896, John Woodward, A treatise on heraldry, British and foreign, W. & A.K. Johnston, page 129:

(heraldry) Of a charge, especially a fess: borne lower than usual.

(heraldry) Having the ends (tips) of the wings turned downward towards the point of the shield (of an eagle, etc).


vol

(heraldry) A heraldic symbol consisting of a pair of outstretched wings, often conjoined at their shoulders.


trundle

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-trundle.wav

From Middle English trondlin, trondelen, a variation of Middle English trendlen, from Old English trendlian. More at trendle, trindle.

between as many Trundles, Or […]

1724, John Guillim, A Display of Heraldry, page 14:

Gules, two broaches in saltire argent, between as many trundles or, on a chief of the second a lion passant gules - EMBROIDERERS' COMPANY at Bristol and Chester.

1894, Henry Gough, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, page 226:

Party of six argent and sable, on a fesse gules, between three lions of England, two broches (or embroidery needles) saltirewise between as many trundles or. Crest. - On a heart the Holy Dove displayed, argent, radiated or.

2023 May 1, W. Sedgwick Saunders, A Catalogue of Engraved Portraits, Topographical Drawings and Prints, Coins, Gems, Autographs, Antiquities, and Works of Art, BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN:

(heraldry, rare) A spool or skein of golden thread (chiefly in the arms of the Embroiderers Company, now the Company of Broderers).


motto

Borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c.. Doublet of mot.

‘Gentlemen, I can tell you what the new queen will take as her motto. It is Bound to Obey and Serve.’

2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 10:

(heraldry) A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.

leuse

sentence, phrase or word forming part of a heraldic achievement


sable

en-noun

sable (countable and uncountable, plural sables)

sables (plural)
sa. (alternative)
s. (alternative)

Attested since 1275, from Middle English sable, from Old French sable and martre sable (“sable marten”), in reference to the animal or its fur; from Medieval Latin sabelum, from Middle Low German sabel (compare Middle Dutch sabel, Middle High German zobel); ultimately from a Slavic word (compare Russian со́боль (sóbolʹ), Polish soból, Czech sobol). Compare also Middle Persian smwl (*samōr).

sable (heraldry):

(heraldry) A black colour on a coat of arms.


sable

en-adj

sable (comparative sabler, superlative sablest)

sabler (comparative)
sablest (superlative)
sa. (alternative)
s. (alternative)

(heraldry) In blazon, of the colour black.


annulet

From Latin ānnulus (“small ring”) + -et.

(heraldry) A small circle borne as a charge in coats of arms.


compartment

First attested 1564, from Middle French compartiment, from Italian compartimento, from Late Latin compartiri (“to divide with, to share with”), from com- + partiri (“to apportion, to divide, to share”).

der

(heraldry) A mound (often of grass), shelf (of e.g. wall) or other thing beneath the shield in a coat of arms on which the supporters stand.


topaz

en-noun

topaz (usually uncountable, plural topazes)

→ Irish: tópás

→ Welsh: topas

From Old French topace (compare French topaze), from Ancient Greek τόπαζος (tópazos).

Elgin. Topaz a Saltier and Chief Ruby, on a Canton Pearl a Lyon Rampant Saphyr, which last is their paternal Coat; and the Field Topaz, and Saltier, and Chief Ruby, was the Arms of King Robert the Bruce, they altering the Field from Pearl (as he bore it) to Topaz. / Eglington. Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Saphyr three Flower-de-Liss Topaz, for Montgomery; 2d and 3d, Ruby three Anulets Topaz', ston'd Saphyr, for the Title of Eglington; […]

1720, Francis Nichols, Rudiments of Honour, page 296:

The Field is Ruby, on a Bend Topaz, three Martlets Diamond. […] 4. Pearl, on a Bend Diamond, nine Annulets conjoined in three Links Topaz.

1726, John Guillim, The Banner Display'd; Or, an Abridgment of Guillim, page 504:

(1) Pearl, a Cross, Ruby, with the Effigies of our Saviour thereon, Topaz, born in Memory of one of the Family's fighting against the Turks. (2) Topaz, a Chief Indented, Saphire. (3) Ruby, three covered Cups, Topaz […]

1754, John Lodge, The Peerage of Ireland; Or, a Genealogical History of the ..., page 71:

(heraldry) Or (gold or yellow), in blazoning by precious stones.


tincture

The noun is derived from Late Middle English tincture (“a dye, pigment; a colour, hue, tint; process of colouring or dyeing; medicinal ointment or salve (perhaps one discolouring the skin); use of a medicinal tincture; (alchemy) transmutation of base metals into gold; ability to cause such transmutation; substance supposed to cause such transmutation”) [and other forms], borrowed from Latin tīnctūra (“act of dyeing”) + Middle English -ure (suffix indicating an action or a process and the means or result of that action or process). Tīnctūra is derived from tīnctus (“coloured, tinged; dipped in; impregnated with; treated”) + -tūra (suffix forming action nouns expressing activities or results); while tīnctus is the perfect passive participle of tingō (“to colour, dye, tinge; to dip (in), immerse; to impregnate (with); to moisten, wet; to smear”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to dip; to soak”). Doublet of tainture, teinture, and tinctura.
The verb is derived from the noun.

doublet

Senses relating to colour, and to dipping something into a liquid.

(heraldry) A hue or pattern used in the depiction of a coat of arms.


scrape

en-noun

scrape (countable and uncountable, plural scrapes)

From Middle English scrapen, from Old Norse skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”) and Old English scrapian (“to scrape, scratch”), both from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną, *skrepaną (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skrebʰ- (“to engrave”).
Cognate with Dutch schrapen (“to scrape”), schrappen (“to strike through; to cancel; to scrap”), schrabben (“to scratch”), German schrappen (“to scrape”), Danish skrabe (“to scrape”), Icelandic skrapa (“to scrape”), Walloon screper (“to scrape”), Latin scribō (“dig with a pen, draw, write”).

cog

Alternative form: scarpe

16. Azure, a Scrape Argent. 17. Gules, a Battune Argent.

1730, Richard Blome, The Art of Heraldry, page 67:

Azure, a Scrape Or.

1810, Encyclopædia Britannica: Or, A Dictionary of Arts and Science, Compiled Upon a New Plan, page 406:

Argent, a scrape purpure.

1894, Sir Francis James Grant, The Manual of Heraldry: Being a Concise Description of the Several Terms Used, and Containing a Dictionary of Every Designation in the Science, page 21:

(A variant blazon would be: Argent, three scrapes enhanced gules.)

1961, Jack Adolphe Reynolds, Heraldry and You: Modern Heraldic Usage in America, Edinburgh; New York : Nelson:

(heraldry) A diminutive of the bend (especially of the bend sinister) which is half its width.


crossed

In certain popular heraldic works the crest assigned to the surname "Archer," in Ireland, is "a mound azure banded and crossed or," whereas there is no instance of the Archers of Kilkenny - probably the earliest of the name […]

1871, Kilkenny and South-east of Ireland Archaeological Society, The Journal of the Kilkenny and South-east of Ireland Archaeological Society, page 220:

Quarterly gu. and az. a royal orb arg. banded and crossed or. Sweden; granted 1751. Gilbert UNIVERSAL, Bishop of London 1128-34.

1874, John Woody Papworth, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, page 1095:

Gules, a cross potent crossed or. CHADERTON, Chester 1579; Lincoln 1595.

1897, William Kirkpatrick Riland Bedford, The Blazon of Episcopacy: Being the Arms Borne by Or Attributed to the Archbishops and Bishops of England and Wales with an Ordinary of the Coats Described and of Other Episcopal Arms, page 217:

(heraldry) Having a cross placed on it, or (with respect to the arms of a cross) having a bar placed crosswise over (an existing bar) so as to form a cross.


escutcheon

escutcheons (plural)
escocheon (alternative obsolete)
escutchion (alternative obsolete)
scutcheon (alternative)
'scutcheon (alternative)

/ɪˈskʌt͡ʃən/

From Middle English scochon, from Anglo-Norman escuchon, Old French escusson (French écusson), ultimately from Latin scutum (“shield”). Related to scutum, scute, scudo, escudo, and écu.

Meronyms: field, charge, emblem

He dies: his very coffin is comfortable; the very vault of his ancestors is sheltered; a funeral sermon is preached in his honour; and escutcheon and marble tablet do their best to preserve his memory.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Fête at Sir Robert Walpole’s”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 33:

And in the meanwhile, Society shivered a little feverishly, filled now with the scions of those who had come over with the Jewish and American Conquests. Escutcheons were becoming valueless, how sinister soever the blots and clots upon them.

1922, Michael Arlen, “1/5/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

(heraldry) The shield on which a coat of arms is displayed, or, by extension, the coat of arms itself.

(heraldry) A small shield used to charge a larger one.


lozenge

lozenges (plural)
losenge (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English losenge, from Old French losenge (“rhombus”), of uncertain origin. See the Old French for more.

Wherein the decussis is made within a longilaterall square, with opposite angles, acute and obtuse at the intersection; and so upon progression making a Rhombus or Lozenge figuration [...].

1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus, Folio Society, published 2007, page 167:

How the junior partner of Hobbs and Dobbs leads her smiling to the carriage with the lozenge upon it, and the fat wheezy coachman!

1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 9, in Vani8ty Fair:

The floor is constructed from marble lozenges and triangles of every imaginable hue: yellow and pink and all manner of mottled and blotched shades, framed in white.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 14:

(shapes, heraldry) A thin rhombus, having two acute and two obtuse angles.


fess

fesses (plural)
fesse (alternative)
feese (alternative)

From Middle English fesse, from Old French fesse, an alteration of faisse, from Latin fascia. Cognate with fajita, fascia, and fascism.

Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral—Hum! Arms: Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable.

1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, Norton, published 2005, page 294:

The space where the arms of Wolsey used to be is being repainted with his own newly granted arms: azure, on a fess between three lions rampant or, a rose gules, barbed vert, between two Cornish choughs proper.

2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 420:

(heraldry) A horizontal band across the middle of the shield.


blazon

en-noun

blazon (countable and uncountable, plural blazons)

From Middle English blason, blasoun (“shield”), from Old French blason (“shield”).

...it should never be forgotten that the best blazon is that which is the most perspicuous

1894, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry:

(heraldry) A verbal or written description of a coat of arms.

We must banish, therefore, the persistent but wholly erroneous notion that the heralds invented many of the terms used in blazon and borrowed the rest from the everyday lexicon of terms...

(heraldry) A formalized language for describing a coat of arms.

He wears their motto on his blade, / Their blazon o'er his towers displayed; [...]

1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Fifth. The Court.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XV, page 264:

(heraldry) A coat of arms or a banner depicting a coat of arms.


gules

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-gules.wav

From Middle English goules, from Old French geule (“animal’s mouth, throat”) via Middle French geules. Compare with French gueules, Portuguese goelas and Spanish gules.

uder

gules:

(heraldry) Red, e.g. on a coat of arms, typically represented in engraving by vertical parallel lines.


gules

The symbol of the Red Cross is a cross gules.

Now is he total gules, horridly tricked

1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, ii 2:

You know they still
Call themselves Bulls, though thus degenerate,
And everything relating to a Bull
Is popular and respectable in Thebes.
Their arms are seven Bulls in a field gules;
They think their strength consists in eating beef,—

1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts:

(heraldry) In blazon, of the colour red.


purpure

From Middle English purpure, from Old English purpure and Old French purpure (“purple”); both from Latin purpura. Doublet of purple and purpura.

Many authorities reject the authenticity of purpure as a tincture.

purpure:

(heraldry) A purple colour on a coat of arms, represented in engraving by diagonal parallel lines 45 degrees clockwise.


purpure

(heraldry) In blazon, of the colour purple.


chevron

chevrons (plural)
cheveron (alternative dated)

From Middle English cheveroun, from Old French chevron, the mark so called because it looks like rafters of a shallow roof, from Vulgar Latin *capriō, from Latin caper (“goat”), the likely connection between goats and rafters being the animal's horns.

(heraldry) A wide inverted V placed on a shield.


fleur-de-lis

en-noun

fleur-de-lis (plural fleurs-de-lis or fleur-de-lises or fleur-de-lisses)

fleurs-de-lis (plural)
fleur-de-lises (plural)
fleur-de-lisses (plural)
fleur de lis (alternative)
fleur-de-lys (alternative)
flower-de-lis (alternative)
flower de lis (alternative)
fleur-de-luce (alternative)
flour-delice (alternative)
flower delice (alternative)
flower-de-luce (alternative)

From earlier flower-de-luce, from Middle English flourdelis, from Anglo-Norman flour de lis (“lily flower”); later remodelled after modern French fleur de lis (“lily flower”).

der

Adorned all with gemmes of endlesse price, […] And all embost with Lyons and with Flour-delice.

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

And waſh the Sanguin’d Fleur-de-Liſſes white.

a. 1700?, The Pepys Ballads, published 1987, page 73:

The pillars of the door that opens to this room are compoſed of pikes, on the top of which are two coats of mail, probably thoſe of John king of France, and David king of Scotland, who were priſoners here: they are both inlaid with gold, and are ornamented with fleur-de-liſſes and thiſtles.

1779, Charles Burlington, “Berkshire”, in The Modern Universal British Traveller; or, A New, Complete, and Accurate Tour through England, Wales, Scotland, and the Neighbouring Islands. Comprising All That Is Worthy of Observation in Great Britain. […], London: […] J. Cooke, […], part I (England), book III (The Western Circle of England), chapter section II (Topographical Description of Berkshire), pages 366–367:

The tressure flowerie encompasses the lion of Scotland, to shew that he should defend the fleur-de-lisses, and these to continue a defence to the lion, the ancient imperial ensign of Scotland since Fergus I.

1818, Hugh Clark, “A Dictionary of the Technical Terms Used in the Science of Heraldry. Part II.”, in A Short and Easy Introduction to Heraldry, in Two Parts. […], the ninth edition, London: […] Edward Edwards, […]; and Rodwell and Martin, […], entry “Tressure”, page 252:

Just then, an attendant to whom the Queen had whispered returned; and taking a small case from her hand, Anne produced a bracelet somewhat similar to the very one with which Francesca had parted, excepting that it had her cipher, surrounded by a wreath of fleurs-de-lis. "Louis, will you offer this to Mademoiselle Carrara?"

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 290:

“We was not ridin’ with a shipment of fleur-de-lisses,” Phineas countered.

1942 December, Joe Archibald, “Pot Luck”, in Flying Aces, page 29:

One room has a pink marble bathroom with a gold fleur de lys pattern around the tub.

2013 April 26, Lesley Gillian, The Guardian:

(heraldry) A design representing a flower whose three petals are joined together at the bottom (⚜, ⚜), often used in heraldry, where it is particularly associated with the French monarchy.


anchored

an anchored cross, or a cross anchored

(heraldry) Having the extremities turned back, like the flukes of an anchor. (Compare sarcelly, moline.)


Luna

From Middle English lune, luna (“the moon”), from Latin lūna/Lūna, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂. Doublet of Roxane.

4. Luna, a Mantle of Estate, Mars doubled Ermine, ouched Sol, garnished with Strings fastned thereunto fretways dependent, and tasselled of the same. [...] These Arms do belong to the Town of Beckbock in Wales.

1693, Richard Blome, The Art of Heraldry, in two parts ... second edition ..., pages 76-77:

George [...] Ist. Mars, three Lions passant guardant in Pale Sol, for the Arms of England, Impal'd with Scotland, i.e. Sol, a Lion rampant within a double Tressure counterflory Mars. 2d. Jupiter, three Fleurs de Lis Sol, for the Arms of France. 3d. Jupiter, an Irish Harp Sol, stringed Luna, for Ireland. 4th. Seme party per Pale, and per Chevron enarche, in the Ist Mars, two Lions passant guardant Sol, for Brunswick. In the 2d Partition Sol, semy of Hearts Mars, and a Lion rampant Jupiter, armed and langued of the First, for Luneburg. The base is Mars, a Horse currant Luna, over these last on an Inescocheon, Constantine's Crown.

1718, Samuel Kent, The Grammar of Heraldry … Second Edition:

8. Tierce in Mantle, first Mars, two Lions passant-guardant in pale, Sol, for Brunswick; 2d Sol, Semi of Hearts proper, a Lion rampant Jupiter, for Lunenburgh; 3d, ente en Point, Mars, an Horse currant Luna, for Saxony.

1735, Francis Nichols, The Irish Compendium … vol. III of the British Compendium, second edition, page 80:

The third, the Ensign of Ireland, which is, Jupiter, an Harp Sol, stringed Luna.

1737, Benjamin Martin, Bibliotheca Technologica: Or, a Philological Library, page 631:

(heraldry, rare) Argent (silver), in the postmedieval practice of blazoning the tinctures of certain sovereigns' (especially British monarchs') coats as planets.


Mars

From Middle English Mars, from Latin Mārs (“god of war”), from older Latin (older than 75 BCE) Māvors.

4. Luna, a Mantle of Estate, Mars doubled Ermine, ouched Sol, garnished with Strings fastned thereunto fretways dependent, and tasselled of the same. [...] These Arms do belong to the Town of Beckbock in Wales. 5. Jupiter, a Mace of Majestry in Bend Sol. [...] 12. Venus, a Staff in Pale Sol, and thereupon a Cross Pattee, Luna surmounted off a Pall of the last, charged with 4. like Crosses fitched Saturn, edged and stringed as the second. This Coat belongs to the Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury, to whose place it appertains to Crown and Inaugurate the Kings of England.

George [...] Ist. Mars, three Lions passant guardant in Pale Sol, for the Arms of England, Impal'd with Scotland, i.e. Sol, a Lion rampant within a double Tressure counterflory Mars. 2d. Jupiter, three Fleurs de Lis Sol, for the Arms of France. 3d. Jupiter, an Irish Harp Sol, stringed Luna, for Ireland. 4th. Seme party per Pale, and per Chevron enarche, in the Ist Mars, two Lions passant guardant Sol, for Brunswick. In the 2d Partition Sol, semy of Hearts Mars, and a Lion rampant Jupiter, armed and langued of the First, for Luneburg. The base is Mars, a Horse currant Luna, over these last on an Inescocheon, Constantine's Crown. All within the Garter. Above the whole a Helmet suitable to his Majesty's Royal Jurisdiction, upon the same a rich Mantle of Cloth of Gold, doubled Ermine, a[…]

8. Tierce in Mantle, first Mars, two Lions passant-guardant in pale, Sol, for Brunswick; 2d Sol, Semi of Hearts proper, a Lion rampant Jupiter, for Lunenburgh; 3d, ente en Point, Mars, an Horse currant Luna, for Saxony. Note, these Ensigns (which are the paternal Coat of his Majesty King George) I have added as an Example, to shew the Form of what foreign Heralds term Tierce in Mantle, ente en Pointe, &c. […]

ARMS. QUARTERLY, in the first grand Quarter Mars, three Lions passant-guardant in Pale, Sol; the Imperial Ensigns of England, impaled with the Royal Arms of Scotland, which are Sol, a Lion rampant within a double Tressure flower'd and counterflower'd with Fleurs-de-lis, Mars. The second Quarter is the Royal Arms of France, viz. Jupiter, three Fleurs-de-lis, Sol. The third, the Ensign of Ireland, which is, Jupiter, an Harp Sol, stringed Luna.

(heraldry, rare) Gules (red), in the postmedieval practice of blazoning the tinctures of certain sovereigns' (especially British monarchs') coats as planets.

Mercury · Venus · Earth · Mars · Jupiter · Saturn · Uranus · Neptune [edit]


R

(monarchy) rex (“king”) or regina (“queen”); the initial by which a British monarch signs documents after his or her name


Sol

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Sol.wav

4. Luna, a Mantle of Estate, Mars doubled Ermine, ouched Sol, garnished with Strings fastned thereunto fretways dependent, and tasselled of the same. [...] These Arms do belong to the Town of Beckbock in Wales. 5. Jupiter, a Mace of Majestry in Bend Sol.

George [...] Ist. Mars, three Lions passant guardant in Pale Sol, for the Arms of England, Impal'd with Scotland, i.e. Sol, a Lion rampant within a double Tressure counterflory Mars. 2d. Jupiter, three Fleurs de Lis Sol, for the Arms of France. 3d. Jupiter, an Irish Harp Sol, stringed Luna, for Ireland. 4th. Seme party per Pale, and per Chevron enarche, in the Ist Mars, two Lions passant guardant Sol, for Brunswick. In the 2d Partition Sol, semy of Hearts Mars, and a Lion rampant Jupiter, armed and langued of the First, for Luneburg.

8. Tierce in Mantle, first Mars, two Lions passant-guardant in pale, Sol, for Brunswick; 2d Sol, Semi of Hearts proper, a Lion rampant Jupiter, for Lunenburgh;

(heraldry, rare) Or (gold), in the postmedieval practice of blazoning the tinctures of certain sovereigns' (especially British monarchs') coats as planets.


champagne

en-noun

champagne (countable and uncountable, plural champagnes)

champagnes (plural)
Champagne (alternative)

Borrowed from French champagne (“sparkling wine from the Champagne region”), from Champagne (“region and former province of France”), from Late Latin campānia (in full Campānia Rēmēnsis), from campāneus (“of or pertaining to the fields”), from Latin campus (“level ground; field, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂emp- (“to bend, curve”). The English word is a doublet of campagna (“flat stretch of countryside”) (dated), campaign, and campania.

shampanjë

sparkling white wine produced in Champagne

cava

Spanish sparkling white wine made with the méthode champenoise

crémant

French sparkling wine that isn't from the Champagne region

prosecco

Italian sparkling white wine made by dual fermentation method in vats

spumante

Italian sparkling wine, sometimes made with the méthode champenoise

Alternative forms: champaine, champain

Two rows of Vair, on a champagne gules an open crown or (both 2 and 3 for CRONBERG).

1892, John Woodward, George Burnett, A Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign: With English and French Glossaries, page 489:

[…] on a champagne in base gules a wyvern, wings expanded or (for Vandalia); on the centre of the cross a quartered shield:[…]

1915, Guy Cadogan Rothery, A. B. C. of Heraldry, page 277:

(heraldry) (An ordinary occupying) the base of the shield, either flat-topped (like the chief at the top of the shield) or curved (as in a mount or trimount).


champagne

A Point Dexter parted, A Point Champagne, A Point plain, A Point in Point, […]

1726, John Guillim, The banner display'd: or, An abridgment of Guillim by S. Kent, page 31:

(heraldry) Alternative form of champaine.


buckle

The noun is derived from Middle English bokel (“spiked metal ring for fastening; ornamental clasp; boss of a shield; a shield, buckler; (figurative) means of defence”) [and other forms], from Old French boucle, bocle (“spiked metal ring for fastening; boss of a shield; a shield”) [and other forms], from Latin buccula (“cheek strap of a helmet; boss of a shield”) (from bucca (“soft part of the cheek”)).
Noun sense 2 (“great conflict or struggle”) is probably derived from verb sense 1.2.1 (“to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work”).
The verb is derived from Middle English bokelen, bukelen (“to fasten (something) with a buckle or clasp; to fasten, make fast; to wrap; to arch the body”) [and other forms], from bokel (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
In verb sense 1.2.1, the sense “to apply (oneself) to, or prepare (oneself) for, a task or work” was derived from the now obsolete sense “to equip (oneself) for a battle, etc.”, and originally alluded to armour being buckled on to the body.

nb...

bocle, bocul, bocule, bocull, boculle, bogil, bogyll, bokell, bokle, bokull, bokyll, bokylle, boucle, bukel, bukkel, bukle, bukyll, bukylle

إِبْزِيم

A metal clasp with a hinged tongue or a spike through which a belt or strap is passed and penetrated by the tongue or spike, in order to fasten the ends of the belt together or to secure the strap to something else.

(Canada, heraldry) An image of a clasp (sense 1) used as the brisure of an eighth daughter.

solki

image of a clasp used as the brisure of an eighth daughter


barry

(heraldry) A field divided transversely into several equal parts, and consisting of two different tinctures interchangeably disposed.


barry

en-adj

barry (comparative more barry, superlative most barry)

more barry (comparative)
most barry (superlative)

(heraldry, not comparable) Traversed (transversely) by bars.


throughout

/t̪ɹʉuˈaʊt̞/

From Old English þurh ūt, equivalent to through + out. Compare German durchaus (“all the way, fully, absolutely”).

cog

Thus the VON VÖLCKER of Frankfurt bear : Argent, a rose gules, the field embrassé à senestre of the second. We should blazon this : Gules, a pile throughout issuing from the dexter flank, charged with a rose of the field.

1892, John Woodward, George Burnett, A Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign: With English and French Glossaries, page 90:

(heraldry) Of an ordinary such as a pile or chevron, or a partition per chevron, etc: extending to the edge of the field (or quarter, chief, etc).


grenade

Borrowed from French grenade, from Old French grenate in the phrase pomme grenate (“pomegranate”), ultimately from Medieval Latin pomum (“apple”) + granatum (“having grains”). The -d developed in French under influence of Spanish granada. Doublet of garnet.

(heraldry) A charge similar to a fireball, and made of a disc-shaped bomb shell, but with only one set of flames at the top.


environ

en-verb

environ (third-person singular simple present environs, present participle environing, simple past and past participle environed)

environs (present singular third-person)
environing (participle present)
environed (participle past)
environed (past)
environ (infinitive)
environ (first-person present singular)
environed (first-person past singular)
environned (archaic first-person past singular)
environ (present second-person singular)
environest (archaic present second-person singular)
environed (past second-person singular)
environedst (archaic past second-person singular)
environned (archaic past second-person singular)
environs (present singular third-person)
environeth (archaic present singular third-person)
environed (past singular third-person)
environned (archaic past singular third-person)
environ (plural present)
environed (past plural)
environned (archaic past plural)
environ (present subjunctive)
environed (past subjunctive)
environned (archaic past subjunctive)
environ (imperative present)
environing (participle present)
environed (participle past)
environned (archaic participle past)

From Middle English envirounen, enviroun (“to surround in a circle or ring, or on the perimeter; to beset, besiege; to cover, enclose, envelop; to provide a setting or surrounding to; to move in a circle; to move around the perimeter; to go, move, or wander about (a place); to fill or pervade (a place); to run all the way through”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman envirouner [and other forms], Middle French environner, and Old French environner (“to arrange in a circle; to circumnavigate, travel around; to traverse, wander around; to encircle, encompass, surround”) [and other forms] (modern French environner), from environ (adverb) (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming verbs).
Cognates
* Catalan environar (obsolete)
* Old French avironer, avironner (Middle French avironer, avironner, Anglo-Norman avironer, aviruner)
* Spanish environar (obsolete)

nb...

enueroun, enuerown, enueyron, enuiron, enuyron, enuyronne, enuyroun, enuyrounne, enuyrowne, enverom, enveron, enveroun, enverounen, enverroun, environ, environne, enviroune, envirowne, envyron, envyrone, envyroun, envyroune, envyrown

اِكْتَنَفَ

to encircle or surround (someone or something) — see also encircle, surround

Az[ure], an annulet environing a barrulet, betw[een] two bars and in chief a cross patty fitchy or.

1874, John W[oody] Papworth, “1 ANNULET betw. or within … and in chief …”, in Alfred W. Morant, editor, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland; […], London: T. Richards, […], →OCLC, page 4, column 2:

To encircle or surround (someone or something).

(heraldry, chiefly passive voice, obsolete) To encircle or surround (a heraldic element such as a charge or escutcheon (shield)).


slipped

Gu . on a bend ar. three trefoils slipped vert.

1864, Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, page 463:

Arg. in chief three trefoils slipped vert in base […]

1874, John Woody Papworth, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, page 866:

(heraldry, of a plant) With part of the stalk displayed.


ballet

en-noun

ballet (countable and uncountable, plural ballets)

Borrowed from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“group dance”), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

der

9. Peter West, Ar. bears sable Ballets argent a Lyon Rampant.

1741, Richard Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities of the City of Exeter … by Richard Izacke … Second Edition:

(heraldry, uncommon) A (small) ball i.e. roundel on a coat of arms, called a bezant, plate, etc., according to colour.


terrace

Borrowed from French terrasse, from Old Occitan terrassa, from terra (“land”). Doublet of terrasse.

VAN GENNEP uses, Or, on a terrace vert a tulip gules, slipped proper and crowned of the first; LOKE in Zealand has : Argent , on a terrace vert a tulip or, slipped and leaved proper.

1892, John Woodward, George Burnett, A Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign: With English and French Glossaries, page 337:

The whole upon a terrace gules. CREST : A coronet of nobility of five pearls. MOTTO : Omnia Pro Libertate.

267); "Argent, on a terrace vert, a cannon mounted or, supporting a Bird of Paradise proper" [Rjevski and Yeropkin];

2022 September 16, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry, DigiCat:

(heraldry) A champagne, (an ordinary occupying) the base of the shield.


disjointed

en-adj

disjointed (comparative more disjointed, superlative most disjointed)

more disjointed (comparative)
most disjointed (superlative)

a lion disjointed

(heraldry) Having the paws and head (but not the tail) detached from the body.


carbuncle

/ˈkɑɹˌbʌŋ.kl̩/

From Middle English carbuncle, charbocle, from Old French carbuncle, charbuncle, from Latin carbunculus (“a small coal; a reddish kind of precious stone; a kind of tumor”), diminutive of carbō (“a coal, charcoal”). Doublet of Garfinkel and Garfunkel.

der

(heraldry) A charge or bearing supposed to represent the precious stone, with eight sceptres or staves radiating from a common centre; an escarbuncle.


arrows

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

(heraldry) Short darts feathered at the ends.


waved

en-adj

waved (comparative more waved, superlative most waved)

more waved (comparative)
most waved (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-waved.wav

For quotations using this term, see Citations:waved.


sejant

French séant, present participle of seoir (“to sit”). Doublet of sedent.


cadence

en-noun

cadence (countable and uncountable, plural cadences)

Borrowed from Middle French cadence, from Old Italian cadenza (“conclusion of a phrase of music”), from Latin *cadentia (literally “a falling”), form of cadēns, the present participle of cadō (“I fall, I cease”). The Latin verb is inherited, via Proto-Italic *kadō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-e- (“to fall”, thematic present). Doublet of cadenza and chance.

závěr

(music) chord progression concluding a section or piece


potent

[ˈpʰoʊ̯ʔn̩t]

[ˈpʰəʉ̯ʔn̩t]

From Middle English potent, borrowed from Latin potens, potentis (“powerful, strong, potent”), present participle of posse (“to be able”), from potis (“able, powerful, originally a lord, master”).

(heraldry) A heraldic fur formed by a regular tessellation of blue and white T shapes.


guarded

en-adj

guarded (comparative more guarded, superlative most guarded)

more guarded (comparative)
most guarded (superlative)

On the helmet , which is of gold, affrontee, guarded with perpendicular bars, and adorned with a mantled gules, doubled, or, is this crest.

1819, Thomas George Lomax, A Short Account of the City and Close of Lichfield: To which is Added A Short Account of the Cathedral ..., page 31:

On a chapeau gules, guarded ermine, a gurnet (fish) urinant proper.

1866, John Edwin Cussans, The Grammar of Heraldry, page 84:

Sable, an eagle displayed argent, crowned with an electoral bonnet gules, guarded argent (or ermine).

Or, three swords in fess palewise azure, guarded vert, hilted gules; unidentified. Fouquet suggests that this is the device of the fictional king of Monteini, but notes that it might be the device of the fictional king of Bicheny.

2015 12, Elizabeth Archibald, David F. Johnson, Arthurian Literature XXXII, Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 160:

(especially heraldry) Having a guard, e.g. a crossguard (on a sword), a faceguard (on a helmet), or a hatguard (on a chapeau).


mantle

From Middle English mantel, from Old English mæntel, mentel (“sleeveless cloak”), from Proto-West Germanic *mantel; later reinforced by Anglo-Norman mantel, both from Latin mantēllum (“covering, cloak”), diminutive of mantum (French manteau, Spanish manto), probably from Gaulish *mantos, *mantalos (“trodden road”), from Proto-Celtic *mantos, *mantlos, from Proto-Indo-European *menH- (“tread, press together; crumble”). Compare Icelandic möttull. Doublet of manteau.


degraded

en-adj

degraded (comparative more degraded, superlative most degraded)

more degraded (comparative)
most degraded (superlative)

/dɪˈɡɹeɪdɪd/

/dɪˈɡɹeɪdɪd/

[dɪˈɡɹeɪɾɪd]

/dɪˈɡɹæɪdɪd/

[dɪˈɡɹæɪɾɪd]

See degrade and compare French degré (“step”).

A Cross degraded Fitchee.

1725, A New Dictionary of Heraldry ... Illustrated with 196 devices on copper ... Revis'd and corrected, with a letter to the publisher, by Mr. James Coates, page 98:

Ar. a cross, degraded, sa.

1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry, page 168:

Argent, a cross degraded and conjoined, (or issuing from eight degrees,) sable. WYNT-WORTH.

1847, Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, page 99:

(heraldry, not comparable) Having steps; said of a cross whose extremities end in steps growing larger as they leave the centre; on degrees.


enveloped

(heraldry) Entwined, as with snakes, laurels, etc.


remora

en-noun

remora (plural remora or remorae or remoras)

remora (plural)
remorae (plural)
remoras (plural)

Borrowed from Latin remora (“delay, hindrance, passive resistance”), from the belief that the fish would attach themselves to ships and slow them down, from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + mora (“delay”) (from Proto-Indo-European *mere (“to delay, hinder”), from *(s)mer- (“to fall into thinking, remember; to care for”)).

der

LORD SCARSDALE. [...] On the dexter ſide, the figure of Prudence repreſented by a woman, habited argent, mantled azure, holding in her ſiniſter hand a javelin entwined with a remora proper; [...]

1766 July 23, [Edward] Kimber, “Barons”, in The Peerage of England. […], volume 60, London: Printed for H[enry] Woodfall, […], →OCLC, page 217:


goutte

From Middle English goute, from Old French goutte, goute, gote, from Latin gutta (“drop”). Doublet of gout and gutta.

Per fesse nebuly chequy azure and or, each of the last charged with a goutte of the first, and sable, in base five estoiles, four and one of the second, all within a bordure argent, charged with eight crosses couped gules.

1915, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, The Book of Public Arms: A Complete Encyclopædia of All Royal, Territorial, Municipal, Corporate, Official, and Impersonal Arms, London : T.C. & E.C. Jack, page 832:

(heraldry) A charge in the form of a teardrop shape, originally with wavy sides, but now often with straight sides.

on a lion rampant argent gouttes purpure

gouté. They may be of various tinctures

that is, semé of an indefinite number of drops


arms

From Middle English armes, from Old French armes, from Latin arma (“weapons”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-mo-, a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to fit together”), hence ultimately cognate with etymology 2.

The arms of England are: gules, three lions passant gardant or.

The Metropolitan Electric trams bore the three seaxes of the Middlesex arms, with a crown above the shield, on a blue circle.

1950 June, Michael Robbins, “Heraldry of London Underground Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 382:

(heraldry) A visual design composed according to heraldic rules, consisting of a coat of arms normally displayed upon an escutcheon, sometimes accompanied by other elements of an achievement


golpe

Unknown. Compare Spanish golpe (“strike, blow”). Perhaps the reference is to a blow leaving a purple bruise, compare the theories about hurt (“blue roundel”).

(heraldry) A roundel purpure (purple circular spot).


esquire

Old French esquiere, esquierre, esquarre (“a square”) (whence modern French équerre), perhaps via a form like based esquire from bas d'esquire ("bottom of a square"), whence attested forms base (e)squire, e(s)quire bast.

Thre pallets between ij Esquires bast dexter and sinister of the second.

1597, Gerard Legh, Armorie, page 154, quoted in the NED

Mortimer, Barry of 6, or & az. an inescutcheon arg. on a chief of the first 2 pallets between as many base esquires of the second.

1883, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, page 142:

Against the theory of two wives for Sir Thomas, is the fact that the Lumley Monument mentions only one, Elizabeth. In addition she appears to have been granted the Royal Arms: 1. France and England, 2. a plain cross of Ulster, 3. as 2, 4. barry of siz, a chief three pallets, between two esquires bastions, dexter and sinister, an inescutcheon Argent, Mortimer, over all a bar sinister, which are also displayed on the monument.

2011 October 24, Peter Beauclerk-Dewar, Roger Powell, Royal Bastards: Illegitimate Children of the British Royal Family, The History Press, →ISBN:

(heraldry, rare) The lower of the halves into which a square is divided diagonally, a single gyron, but potentially larger (extending across the shield) or smaller (for example, on Mortimer's arms).


diadem

diadems (plural)
diademe (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English diademe, dyademe, from Old French diademe, from Latin diadēma, from Ancient Greek διάδημα (diádēma, “band, especially worn around a tiara”), from διαδέω (diadéō, “bind around”).

(heraldry) An arch rising from the rim of a crown (rarely also of a coronet), and uniting with others over its centre.


naiant

From Middle French noiant, present participle of noier (“to swim”), from Latin natare. Doublet of natant.

(heraldry, of a fish) Depicted swimming horizontally.


bearded

en-adj

bearded (comparative more bearded, superlative most bearded)

more bearded (comparative)
most bearded (superlative)

From Middle English berded, from Old English ġebearded, ġebeardede, ġebierd, ġebierde (“bearded”), from Proto-Germanic *bardōdaz (“bearded”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂tos (“bearded”), equivalent to beard + -ed. Cognate with Dutch bebaarde (“bearded”), Middle Low German bārt (“bearded”), archaic German gebartet (“bearded”).

(heraldry) Having barbs of a certain color.


contourné

From French contourné, from Latin con- (“altogether, completely”) and tornāre (“to make round”).

(heraldry, of beasts, etc) Facing sinister instead of dexter.


thunderbolt

(heraldry) A charge in the form of two joined bundles with four rays of lightning emerging from them, resembling the thunderbolt of Jupiter.


scarpe

[…] Argent, three bendlets engrailed sable; over all a scarpe gules - BLAGE, Kent.

1894, Henry Gough, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, page 55:

Bonfiglioli : Bendy sinister of eight or and gules. Later on this is surmounted of a bend of France ancient, an augmentation, no doubt. Another representation gives : Or, three scarps gules, with the same bend of France ancient surmounting.

1901, Howel Wills, Florentine Heraldry: A Supplement to the Guide-books, page 130:

[…] in bend an arrow, its shaft debruised by two scarpes couped Or; […]

1992, Donald R. Mandich, Joseph Anthony Placek, Russian Heraldry and Nobility, Dramco Pub:

(heraldry) Alternative form of scrape (“diminutive bend”).


braced

three chevronels braced in base

(heraldry, of multiple figures of the same form) Interlaced.


bucket shop

bucket shops (plural)
bucketshop (alternative)

(heraldry) A company that sells coats of arms associated with the customer's surname, regardless of whether the customer can claim any relation to the original armiger.


dormant

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin dormiēns, present participle of dormiō (“I sleep”).

dormaunt (alternative)
dormient (alternative)

a lion dormant

(heraldry) In a sleeping posture; distinguished from couchant.


garter

From Middle English garter, from Old Northern French gartier, from Old French garet (compare Old French jartier, from jaret), from Gaulish *garrā, from Proto-Celtic *garros (“calf, shank”) (compare Cornish gar, Cornish gar,Middle Welsh garr, Old Irish gairr). Cognate with French jarretière.


thistle

From Middle English thistel, from Old English þistel, from Proto-West Germanic *þistil, from Proto-Germanic *þistilaz. *þīh- from *teyg-, which is a variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to prick”); from this same Proto-Indo-European root comes English stick.
Cognates include Scots thrissel, German Distel, Dutch distel, and Old Norse and Icelandic þistill.

der

(heraldry) An image of this plant used as a charge.

𐍅𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌼 f (wigadeinōm) (dative plural; lemma uncertain)


emblem

From Old French embleme, from Latin emblema (“raised ornaments on vessels, tessellated work, mosaic”), from Ancient Greek ἔμβλημα (émblēma, “an insertion”), from ἐμβάλλειν (embállein, “to put in, to lay on”). Doublet of emblema.

Near-synonym: charge

(heraldry) A picture placed on the field of the escutcheon.


lodged

(heraldry) Lying down, with head raised; used of beasts of the chase (deer, etc), as couchant is used of beasts of prey (lions, etc).


displayed

en-adj

displayed (comparative more displayed, superlative most displayed)

more displayed (comparative)
most displayed (superlative)


invected

(heraldry) Having a border consisting of semicircles with the convex part outwards (and the points inwards).


engrailed

(heraldry) Having an edge or border indented with semicircles with points outwards (and convex part inwards).


levant

Crest, a stag regardant levant argent.

1932, Notes & Queries for Somerset and Dorset:

[...] crest a raven levant sable issant out of a[…]

1977, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History, Proceedings:

[...] neck grene acornes proper wounded on his left sholder and at her feet there is a fawcon issant levant argent out of a crowne or.

1980, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History:


celeste

en-noun

celeste (countable and uncountable, plural celestes)

Borrowed from French céleste (“heavenly”), from Latin caelestis.


supercharge

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-supercharge.wav

(heraldry) A charge borne upon an ordinary or other charge.


panther

→ Maori: panata

→ Welsh: panther

From Middle English panter, panther, pantere, from Old French pantere, from Latin panthēra, from Ancient Greek πάνθηρ (pánthēr, “panther”).

der

(mythology, heraldry) A creature resembling a big cat, typically incensed (“emitting fire”), and often having a multicolored hide, found in Ancient Greek mythology and in medieval and later heraldry (in which its depiction sometimes approaches that of a horse).


chapeau

Borrowed from Middle French chappeau. The interjection is after Modern French chapeau in similar use, originally short for chapeau bas.


ogress

Uncertain. Attested in this form since 1572. The French term ogoesse is only attested later (1611 in an English dictionary, 1690 in a French dictionary) and may be derived from English. The 1486 Book of Coat Armour in the Book of St. Albans says "gonestonys" are called "oglys" in heraldic blazon; perhaps someone in the 1500s misread ogles as ogres(s) and mistook the plural for a singular, compare the use of pommeis (“roundel(s) vert”) as a singular. The form agresses is found in some 18th century works, alongside ogresses.

Beareth Verte, fiue Fermaulxz in Crosse D'Or, a Border d'Argent, charged with eight Ogresses: or, after the French blazon, 'Ogressée de huit pieces'.

1572, John Bossewell, Workes of Armorie, II, 37b:


purfle

purfles (plural)
purflew (alternative)
purfyle (alternative)

From Old French porfiler, from Latin pro- + filum (“thread”). Doublet of profile.

Adumbration (or Transparency) is a clear Exemption of the Substance of the Charge, so that there remaineth only the outward Strokes or Purfle of a Thing;

1726, John Guillim, The banner display'd: or, An abridgment of Guillim [in his Display of heraldrie] by S. Kent, page 43:

Cross […] has its extremities ending in a flower of three leaves, or flower-de-luces, with a purfle, or line between them and the ends of the cross.

1804, Alexander Nisbet, A system of heraldry, speculative and practical, page 117:

(heraldry) An ornamental border, edge, or line of a different tincture or material.


purfle

en-verb

purfle (third-person singular simple present purfles, present participle purfling, simple past and past participle purfled)

purfles (present singular third-person)
purfling (participle present)
purfled (participle past)
purfled (past)
purflew (alternative)
purfyle (alternative)

Crest; a dragon passant proper, wings elevated and purfled gules.

1815, John Wilkes, Encyclopaedia Londinensis, page 606:

(heraldry, transitive) To ornament with purfle.


blasted

BLASTED : leafless, applied to trees.
Argent, three scrogs, blasted, sable. Blastock of that Ilk.

1847, Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, page 57:

A modified form of this coat of arms, consisting of a blasted oak, with new branches growing out near the base, and an acorn suspended [...]

1914, Beatrice Bush, Genealogy of the Descendants of John M. Bush and Jane Osterhoudt of Kingston, Ulster Co., N.Y., 1791-1914, page 7:

(heraldry, of a tree, bush, etc) Whose branches bear no leaves; leafless.

lehdetön

heraldry, of a tree whose branches bear no leaves


fimbriate

fimbriate (third-person singular simple present fimbriates, present participle fimbriating, simple past and past participle fimbriated)

fimbriates (present singular third-person)
fimbriating (participle present)
fimbriated (participle past)
fimbriated (past)

Borrowed from Latin fimbriātus (“fibrous, fringed”), participial adjective formed on fimbriae (“fibers, threads, fringe”) + -ātus (participial adjective-forming suffix). See -ate (verb-forming suffix), -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

af

Beſides the divers tricking or dreſſing, as piercing, voiding, fimbriating, ingrailing, couping: And in fanſie and devices there is ſtill a plus ultrá; inſomuch that Croſſes alone as they are variouſly diſguiſed, are enough to diſtinguiſh all the ſeverall families of Gentlemen in England.

1639, Thomas Fuller, “Of the Honourable Arms in Scutcheons of Nobilitie Occasioned by Their Service in the Holy Warre”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book V (A Supplement of the Historie of the Holy Warre), page 271:

(transitive, heraldry) To apply a thin border (a fimbriation) to some element, often to satisfy the rule of tincture.


adumbration

en-noun

adumbration (countable and uncountable, plural adumbrations)

Edmund Husserl
Lord Belhaven and Stenton
Plato
allegory of the cave

From Latin adumbrātiō (“sketch; outline, silhouette; pretence, semblance”) + -ion (suffix indicating a condition or state). Adumbrātiō is derived from adumbrāre (present active infinitive of adumbrō (“to represent an object with light and shade, to shade; to represent in outline, to outline, silhouette, sketch; to cast a shadow on, overshadow, shade; to copy, counterfeit, imitate”)) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or the results of actions). Adumbrō is derived from ad- (prefix meaning ‘to, towards’) + umbrō (“to cast a shadow, to shade; to overshadow”) (from umbra (“shade; shadow; ghost”)).

скица

faint sketch; brief representation, outline

ADUMBRATION, [in Heraldry] an abſolute taking avvay of the Charge or Thing born, ſo that nothing of it remains but the bare Proportion of the out Lines.

[1721, N[athan] Bailey, “ADUMBRATION”, in An Universal Etymological English Dictionary: […], London: […] E. Bell, J. Darby, […], →OCLC, column 1:

It is ſaid, that ſome [emblazoned shields] bore the outline or tracing only, inſtead of the armorial figures complete; becauſe, having loſt the ſeigniory, they retained only the ſhadow of their property and conſequence. In the ſtate of the practice of delineating coat armour in the fourteenth century, it may be doubted, whether the adumbration of figures could be ſatisfactorily deſigned; and it is therefore to be allowed rather as an imaginary diſtinction, than as implying, what we have no authority to decide upon, that when the patrimonial eſtate was alienated, the poſſeſſor, in every inſtance, made at the ſame time a ceſſion of his hereditary bearing.

1793, James Dallaway, “Sect. II”, in Inquiries into the Origin and Progress of the Science of Heraldry in England. With Explanatory Observations on Armorial Ensigns, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Printed by R[obert] Raikes, for T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, pages 110–111:

The mysterious adumbration or shadowing which occurs in some of the Hamilton coats, is also interesting, because rare, though it hardly bears out the statement of some writers that it was adopted by families who, having lost their possessions, and consequently being unable to maintain their dignity, chose rather to bear their hereditary arms adumbrated than abandon them altogether.

1893, James Balfour Paul, “Introduction”, in An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, Edinburgh: William Green & Sons, →OCLC, pages xiii–xiv:

(countable) A faint sketch; a brief representation, an outline.

(specifically, heraldry, rare) The supposed practice of displaying only outline of a charge (“image displayed on an escutcheon”), sometimes filled in with a darker shade than the field.


torse

From Middle French torse (“wreath”), from Latin torqueō (“to twist”). Doublet of trousse and truss.

(heraldry) A twist of cloth or wreath, typically placed underneath and forming part of a crest (as an orle or wreath) and customarily shown with six twists, the first tincture being the tincture of the field, the second the tincture of the metal, and so on; rarely, it occurs as a charge.

гирлянда

heraldry: a twist of cloth or wreath forming the lowest part of the crest


pallet

Said to be from Middle English *palet, from Middle French *palet, from Middle French pal (“pale”), ultimately from Latin palla (“a strip of cloth”).

(heraldry) A narrow vertical stripe, narrower than a pale. Diminutive of pale.


sagittary

/ˈsæd͡ʒɪtəɹi/

From Latin sagittarius, from sagitta (“arrow”). Doublet of Sagittarius.

Gules, three Sagittaries - or, three torteaux. Stephen's cognizance was a Sagittary, because he entered England when the Sun was in that sign, and was greatly indebted for his success to mounted archers.

1825, Thomas Dudley Fosbroke, Encyclopaedia of antiquities, and elements of archaeology, classical and mediaeval, page 650:

And all beasts azure are armed gules, and vice versa. The Sagittary is well known as the representation of the […]

1845, Edward Smedley, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, Encyclopaedia Metropolitana: Plates and Maps to the Historical and Miscellaneous Divisions, page 608:

to have borne on a red shield, three golden centaurs armed with bows and arrows, or "Sagittaries;" it has been conjectured, however, that this idea may have arisen from the circumstance of the "Sagittary" having been Stephen's[…]

1863, Charles Boutell, Heraldry, Historical and Popular, page 263:

Gules, three sagittaries, in pale, or. These sagittaries are generally blazoned as compound creatures, half man and half lion, as in Fig. 19.

1867, Art-Union: A Monthly Journal of the Fine Arts, page 151:

[The coat-]of-arms of Normandy is "Gules, two lions guardant or," and it is supposed that this coat was used by our Norman kings with the exception of Stephen - who is credited with three centaurs with bows and arrows - Sagittaries.

1905, Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain), Journal of the Society of Arts, page 604:

(heraldry, often capitalized) A mythical compound creature, resembling a centaur (half-human, half-horse) or a half-human, half-lion, often armed with a bow and arrows.


retracted

Pale, retracted, that is, shortened. It is a French term, used when pales are borne cut off, either pendent from the chief, or issuant from the base, which should be particularly noticed in the blazon.

1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica: Or, Complete Dictionary of Heraldry, page 1:

RETRACTED, said of charges when borne one shorter than another; as, three pales or palets issuant from the chief, retracted, that is, cut off bend ways, and hanging of different lengths.

1830, Thomas Robson (engraver.), The British herald, or Cabinet of armorial bearings of the nobility & gentry of Great Britain & Ireland:

(heraldry) Couped bendwise: cut off by a line diagonal to the main direction.


volant

From Middle French volant, present participle of voler (“to fly”), from Latin volāre.

Crest - A horseshoe ar. betw. two wings volant sa. Farrer

1864, Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, page 342:

A demi-ostrich, wings volant proper.

1924, The Publications of the Harleian Society, page 73:

(heraldry) Having extended wings as if flying.

A martlet volant. Motto - In Deo solo spes mea. Kay

1864, Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, page 553:

(heraldry) Represented as unsupported in the air.


bendy

From Middle English bendee, from Old French bendé (past participle).

7. Talbot, Bendy gules and argent; 8. Comyn, Gules, three garbs within a tressure flory counter-flory or; 9. Valence, Barry of ten argent and azure, an orle of martlets gules;

1863, John Gough Nichols, The Herald and Genealogist, page 438:

His arms as there displayed are emblazoned on a bendy field of his livery colours vert, argent and gules.

1904, The Genealogical Magazine, page 446:

(heraldry) Divided into diagonal bands of colour.


bendy

The original escutcheon of the Norman family was a bendy of ten, argent and gules.

1927, Descendants of Richard and Elizabeth (Ewen) Talbott of Poplar Knowle, West River, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, page 436:

[…], 3 within a bordure gules a bendy of six or and azure (Burgundy Ancient), 4 sable a lion rampant or (Brabant), overall an inescutcheon or a lion rampant sable (Flanders); encircled by[…]

1985, Stained Glass Before 1700 in American Collections: Corpus Vitrearum Checklist I. New England and New York:

(heraldry) A field divided diagonally into several bends, varying in metal and colour.


courant

currant (hurry–furry merger, cure–fir merger)

From French courant (“running”). Doublet of car, carry, courier, course, current, horse, hurry, and rush.

doublet

a classical lion courant


crined

From Old French crine (“hair of the head”) (French crin) + -ed.

Sa. three boys' heads couped at the shoulders ppr. having snakes enwrapped about their necks vert ; (sometimes borne with a chev. ar.) Crest - A boy's head as in the arms, (sometimes crined or.) VAUGHAN

1844, John Burke, Bernard Burke, Encyclopædia of Heraldry, Or General Armory of England, Scotland and Ireland: Comprising a Registry of All Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, Including the Late Grants by the College of Arms:

a crested bird called in Zemblan sampel (‘silktail’), closely resembling a waxwing in shape and shade, is the model of one of the three heraldic creatures (the other two being a reindeer proper and a merman azure, crined or) in the armorial bearings of the Zemblan King, Charles the Beloved

(heraldry) Having hair or a mane of a specified tincture, different from that of the body.


armorist

armorists (plural)
armourist (alternative)

Several others are in the College of Arms. He was the first Welsh armorist to produce armorials of marshalled coats[…]

1949, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (London, England), The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion:

(heraldry) A person skilled in the bearings of coats of arms, and all relating to their emblazonment.

armista

a person skilled in the bearings of coats of arms


assurgent

en-adj

assurgent (comparative more assurgent, superlative most assurgent)

more assurgent (comparative)
most assurgent (superlative)

From Latin assurgens, present participle of assurgo (“rise up”).

A seahorse assurgent per pale or and azure, crined gules.

1869, Robert Cooke, The Visitation of London in the Year 1568: Taken by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms, and Since Augmented Both with Descents and Arms, page 51:


atchievement

en-noun

atchievement (countable and uncountable, plural atchievements)

(heraldry) Alternative spelling of achievement.


attired

Crest: A goat's head erased ar attired or.

1828, Thomas Allan, The History And Antiquities Of London, Westminster, Southwark and Parts Adjacent:

(heraldry) Said of the horns of an animal when they are of a different tincture to its head.

adharcach

heraldry: said of the horns of an animal when they are of a different tincture to its head


banner roll

BANNER ROLL is a small square flag containing a single escutcheon of the deceased. Thus, if there are twelve quarterings in the banner, the same number of banner rolls will be required to be borne in the funeral procession.

(heraldry) A small square flag containing a single escutcheon of the deceased.


barbed

en-adj

barbed (comparative more barbed, superlative most barbed)

more barbed (comparative)
most barbed (superlative)

Crest : A demi-cockatrice or, crested gules, stricken through the back of the neck with an arrow sable, barbed and flighted argent. Sable, two bars humettée or between a cock in fesse and a swan in chief and in base argent.

1899, Thomas Benolt, The Visitations of the County of Surrey: Made and Taken in the Years 1530 by Thomas Benolte, Clarenceux King of Arms ; 1572 by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms ; and 1623 by Samuel Thompson, Windsor Herald, and Augustin Vincent, Rouge Croix Pursuivant, Marshals and Deputies to William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms, page 232:

The cross barbed has its limbs terminated by arrow-heads; it is sometimes emblazoned cramponée and tournée, but Edmondson gives the last name to a totally different cross, one not unlike the cross fourchée.

1915, Guy Cadogan Rothery, A. B. C. of Heraldry, page 24:

Having barbs of a certain colour (as or similar to an arrow); beared.

Ex. A Cock barbed and crested, (that is, wattled and combed, which signifies the Comb and Gills of a Cock, when born of a different Tincture from the Body)

1729, Abel Boyer, Le Grand théâtre de l'honneur et de noblesse [assisted by John Innes?] (overall work in French and English), page 77:

About the year 1446, he carried, as by our old books of blazons, quarterly, first and fourth Marr; second and third Lyle, as above blazoned; for crest, a cock or, crested and barbed gules: motto, An I may; supported by two[…]

1804, Alexander Nisbet, A system of heraldry, speculative and practical: with the true art of Blazon ... Illustrated with suitable examples of armorial figures, and achievements of the most considerable surnames and families in Scotland ..., page 216:

Having gills or wattles (as a bird); wattled.

PLANT (?Plantagenet). Arg. a rose gu. seeded or barbed vert.

1874, John Woody Papworth, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, page 859:

Having sepals or leaves between the petals (on a rose, etc).


baron and femme

[see title]

1719, Baron and Femme: A Treatise of the Common Law Concerning Husbands and Wives …:

[see title]

1816, Tapping Reeve, The Law of Baron and Femme, of Parent and Child, of Guardian and Ward, of Master and Servant, and of the Powers of Courts of Chancery:

When the coats of arms of a married couple, descended of distinct families, are to be marshalled on an escocheon, the field of their respective arms is conjoined pale-ways, and blazoned thus: parted per pale, baron and femme; first the baron's arms are to be described, then the femme's.

1821, Alexander Jamieson, Universal Science Or the Cabinet of Nature and Art, Comprising Above One Thousand Entertaining and Instructive Facts and Experiments, page 304:

(heraldry) The arms of a man and his wife, marshalled together.


batune

From Anglo-Norman bastun, itself from mainland Old French baston.


baston

From Middle English baston, from Old French baston. Doublet of baton.


belled

Or, three falcons close proper, belled gules, a mullet for difference.

1910, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour, page 539:

(heraldry) Having bells (especially around the neck of an animal).


bend sinister

(heraldry) A diagonal band on a coat of arms going from the sinister chief (the viewer's top right) to the dexter base, sometimes erroneously held to indicate bastardy.

barra

diagonal band on coat of arms going from top right to bottom left


in bend

(heraldry) Of figures: placed in a slanting direction from the dexter chief to the sinister base.


bendlet

(heraldry) A diminutive of the bend, of the same shape, but only half the width of the bend.


coupé

Unadapted borrowing from French coupé (an elliptical form of carosse coupé (“cut carriage”)), the past participle of couper (“to cut”).

[...] who was knighted : His Arms were Or, three Barrs Azure on a Canton Argent, a Lyon's Head coupé Gules;

1826, Sir Henry Chauncy, The Historical Antiquities of Hertforshire, page 314:

Grant of Arms and Crest from Hervy Clarenceux : Sablés, a chevron engrayled betwene three bezants, on a chief gold a rose gules between two flower de luces azure. Crest, a horsse head coupé golde pelletey betwene two winges barrey[…]

1863, John Gough Nichols, The Herald and Genealogist, page 82:

Fig. 34, Argent, a baton sinister, coupé, gules (the mark of illegitimate descent).

1898, Edward Singleton Holden, A Primer of Heraldry for Americans, page 117:


depending

Behind the shield are placed in saltire two batons representing that belonging to his office, and round the shield is placed a gold collar of SS, and a triple chain also of gold, and depending from it the proper badge of Lyon King of Arms.

1899, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families – A Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-Armour, Showing which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, 3rd edition, page 46:

(heraldry) Suspended or hanging from another element, such as a shield, helmet, crest, or a badge hanging from a chain.


nombril

(heraldry) A point halfway between the fess point (centre of the shield) and the middle base (bottom) point of an escutcheon.

tyvipiste

heraldry: point midway between bottom and centre of the shield


uncharged

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-uncharged.wav


escalope

Borrowed from French escalope. Doublet of scallop.

(heraldry) A charge (depiction) of the scallop.


tripping

tripping (comparative more tripping, superlative most tripping)

more tripping (comparative)
most tripping (superlative)

a buck tripping

Robinson, [...] vert, on a chev. betw. three bucks, tripping, or, as many cinquefoils gu.—Crest, a buck, tripping, or.

1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica, Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry:

[A] buck tripping proper (of its natural colour), is borne by the name of Williams; Argent, a buck tripping proper, attired and unguled (horned and hoofed) or, by the name of Holme, in Scotland. The same arms are borne by the[…]

1846, William Newton, A Display of Heraldry, page 97:

Ar. three stags tripping ppr.

1894, Notes and Queries, Historical, Biographical and Genealogical, Relating Chiefly to Interior Pennsylvania, page 53:

(heraldry, not comparable) Having the right forefoot lifted, the others remaining on the ground, as if trotting; trippant.


caboshed

caboched (alternative)
cabossed (alternative)

From French caboché, past participle of cabocher, from caboche (“head”) (compare cabbage). See -ed.

(heraldry, of an animal) Shown face-on, showing the full face, but cut off immediately behind the ears and hence showing nothing of the neck.