Crossword clues for escutcheon
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Escutcheon \Es*cutch"eon\, n. [OF. escusson, F. ['e]cusson, from OF. escu shield, F. ['e]cu. See Esquire, Scutcheon.]
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(Her.) The surface, usually a shield, upon which bearings are marshaled and displayed. The surface of the escutcheon is called the field, the upper part is called the chief, and the lower part the base (see Chiff, and Field.). That side of the escutcheon which is on the right hand of the knight who bears the shield on his arm is called dexter, and the other side sinister.
Note: The two sides of an escutcheon are respectively designated as dexter and sinister, as in the cut, and the different parts or points by the following names: A, Dexter chief point; B, Middle chief point; C, Sinister chief point; D, Honor or color point; E, Fesse or heart point; F, Nombrill or navel point; G, Dexter base point; H, Middle base point; I, base point.
A marking upon the back of a cow's udder and the space above it (the perineum), formed by the hair growing upward or outward instead of downward. It is esteemed an index of milking qualities.
--C. L. Flint.(Naut.) That part of a vessel's stern on which her name is written.
--R. H. Dane, Jr.(Carp.) A thin metal plate or shield to protect wood, or for ornament, as the shield around a keyhole.
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(Zo["o]l.) The depression behind the beak of certain bivalves; the ligamental area.
Escutcheon of pretense, an escutcheon used in English heraldry to display the arms of the bearer's wife; -- not commonly used unless she an heiress. Cf. Impalement.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"shield on which a coat of arms is depicted," late 15c., from Old North French escuchon, variant of Old French escusson "half-crown (coin); coat of arms, heraldic escutcheon," from Vulgar Latin *scutionem, from Latin scutum "shield" (see hide (n.1)).\n\nEscutcheon of pretense, in her., a small escutcheon charged upon the main escutcheon, indicating the wearer's pretensions to some distinction, or to an estate, armorial bearings, etc., which are not his by strict right of descent. It is especially used to denote the marriage of the bearer to an heiress whose arms it bears. Also called inescutcheon. [Century Dictionary]\n
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\nClev. Without doubt: he is a Knight? Jord. Yes Sir.\n
Clev. He is a Fool too?\n
Jord. A little shallow[,] my Brother writes me word, but that is a blot in many a Knights Escutcheon.\n
[Edward Ravenscroft, "Mamamouchi, or the Citizen Turn'd Gentleman," 1675]
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context heraldry English) An individual or corporate coat of arms. 2 (context heraldiccharge English) A small shield used to charge a larger one. 3 (context medicine English) The pattern of distribution of hair upon the pubic mound. 4 A marking upon the back of a cow's udder and the space above it (the perineum), formed by the hair growing upward or outward instead of downward. It was once taken as an index of milking qualities. 5 (context nautical English) The part of a ship's stern where its name is displayed. 6 A decorative and/or protective plate or bezel to fill the gap between a switch, pipe, valve, control knob, etc., and the surface from which it protrudes. 7 The insignia around a doorknob's exterior hardware or a door lock's cosmetic plate. 8 The depression behind the beak of certain bivalves; the ligamental area.
WordNet
n. a flat protective covering (on a door or wall etc) to prevent soiling by dirty fingers [syn: finger plate, scutcheon]
(nautical) a plate on a ship's stern on which the name is inscribed
a shield; especially one displaying a coat of arms [syn: scutcheon]
Wikipedia
Escutcheon (pronounced , ) may refer to:
- Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms
- Escutcheon (furniture), an item of door furniture that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder
- (in medicine) the distribution of pubic hair
In heraldry, an escutcheon is a shield which forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word is used in two related senses.
Firstly, as the shield on which a coat of arms is displayed. Escutcheon shapes are derived from actual shields used by knights in combat, and thus have varied and developed by region and by era. As this shape has been regarded as a war-like device appropriate to men only, British ladies customarily bear their arms upon a lozenge, or diamond-shape, while clergymen and ladies in continental Europe bear theirs on a cartouche, or oval. Other shapes are in use, such as the roundel commonly used for arms granted to Aboriginal Canadians by the Canadian Heraldic Authority.
Secondly, a shield can itself be a charge within a coat of arms. More often, a smaller shield is placed over the middle of the main shield (in pretence or en surtout) as a form of marshalling. In either case, the smaller shield is usually given the same shape as the main shield. When there is only one such shield, it is sometimes called an inescutcheon.
An escutcheon (pronounced , ) is a general term for a decorative plate used to conceal a functioning, non-architectural item. Escutcheon is an old French word derived from the Latin word scutum, meaning a shield. Escutcheons are most often used in conjunction with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing components and fixtures where a pipe, tube, or conduit passes through a wall [or other material] surface. The escutcheon is used to bridge the gap between the outside diameter of the pipe and the inside diameter of the opening in said surface.
An escutcheon can also refer to an item of door furniture. In this case, it is an architectural item that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder, and is often part of a lockset. Escutcheons help to protect a lock cylinder from being drilled out or snapped, and to protect the surrounding area from damage and wear from the end of the key when it misses the keyhole.
Some escutcheons come in pairs with a plain one to go on the outside of the door while the matching escutcheon inside has a rotating cover to prevent prying eyes. The cover also prevents insects and dust from getting into the house/room.
Category:Door furniture
Usage examples of "escutcheon".
It was not secured by a mortise lockset, as the other three had been, but had a steel escutcheon with a type of locking device that Snudge had never seen before.
If the earl marries you, it will be not only his failure, but mine, and the downfall of every man and woman related to the Marsden escutcheon.
Especially do I believe it to be a truth, which none but the ignorant or the vicious can question, that every city and village in America, outside of Mormondom, abounds with matrons and maidens, the face of any one of whom Purity herself might take for her escutcheon.
Chateau de Lavedan preceded by twenty well-mounted knaves wearing the gorgeous Saint-Pol liveries of scarlet and gold, with the Bardelys escutcheon broidered on the breasts of their doublets - on a field or a bar azure surcharged by three lilies of the field.
This mother of hers, a woman of the lowest birth, had become very proud since her daughter was a prince's mistress, and thought my relationship a blot on their escutcheon.
The people of that period considered it indispensable to translate the whole world into a forest of Symbols, Hints, Equestrian Games, Masquerades, Paintings, Courtly Arms, Trophies, Blazons, Escutcheons, Ironic Figures, Sculpted Obverses of Coins, Fables, Allegories, Apologias, Epigrams, Riddles, Equivocations, Proverbs, Watchwords, Laconic Epistles, Epitaphs, Parerga, Lapidary Engravings, Shields, Glyphs, Clipei, and if I may, I will stop here—but they did not stop.
In the midst of the choir, protected by double barriers, was placed a catafalque even more stately than that provided in the chapel of the palace at Westminster, with a lofty canopy, the valance whereof was fringed with black silk and gold, and the sides garnished with pensils, escutcheons, and bannerols.
The procession began with four-and-twenty mules, caparisoned in red, adorned with escutcheons bearing the duke's arms, laden with carved trunks and chests inlaid with ivory and silver.
The halls and principal chambers of the ancient religious structure were hung with black, and garnished with escutcheons, and the fine old conventual church, refitted for the occasion, was likewise clothed with mourning, the high altar being entirely covered with black velvet, and adorned with all the jewels and gold and silver plate of which the shrines of the monastery had been previously plundered.
Then she poked a finger into the hole in the escutcheon plate and released the locking mechanism.
The tape indicated the presence of a burglar alarm system, and an extra escutcheon plate just below the Rabson lock on the front door told me the system was a Kilgore.
The door to the hallway had two dead-bolt locks, each with its cylinder secured by an escutcheon plate.
Seen in the gorgeous setting of that coach with its escutcheoned panels, its portly coachman and its white-stockinged footman — who swung instantly to earth as the vehicle stopped — its dainty occupant seemed to Climene a princess out of a fairy-tale.
Before him a lacquey in my escutcheoned livery of red-and-gold was receiving, with back obsequiously bent, his hat and cloak.
In the midst of the sacred apartment, surrounded by barriers, clothed with black, with a smaller altar at its foot, adorned like the high altar with plate and jewels, was set a superb catafalque, garnished with pensils and escutcheons, and having at each corner the banner of a saint beaten in fine gold upon damask.