The Collaborative International Dictionary
Fleur-de-lis \Fleur`-de-lis`\, n.; pl. Fleurs-de-lis. [F., flower of the lily. Cf. Flower-de-luce, Lily.]
(Bot.) The iris. See Flower-de-luce.
A conventional flower suggested by the iris, and having a form which fits it for the terminal decoration of a scepter, the ornaments of a crown, etc. It is also a heraldic bearing, and is identified with the royal arms and adornments of France.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
also fleur-de-lys, mid-14c., from Anglo-French flour de lis "lily-flower," from Old French, literally "flower of the iris," especially borne as a heraldic device on the royal arms of France. There is much dispute over what it is meant to resemble; perhaps an iris flower, or the head of a scepter, or a weapon of some sort. In Middle English often taken as flour delice "flower of joy, lovely flower" (hence Anglo-Latin flos deliciae); also flour de luce "flower of light" (as if from Latin lucem).
Wiktionary
n. (context heraldiccharge English) 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.
WordNet
n. plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals [syn: iris, flag, sword lily]
(heraldry) charge consisting of a conventionalized representation of an iris [syn: fleur-de-lys]
[also: fleurs-de-lis (pl)]
Wikipedia
The fleur-de-lis (plural: fleurs-de-lis) or flower-de-luce is a stylized lily (in French, fleur means "flower", and lis means "lily") or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, religious, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in French heraldry.
The fleur-de-lis is represented in Unicode at U+269C (⚜) in the Miscellaneous Symbols block.
Fleur-de-Lis is a fictional character, a comic book secret agent published by DC Comics. She debuted in Infinity, Inc. #34 (January 1987), and was created by Len Wein, Randy Lofficier and Ross Andru.
The Fleur-de-lis is a stylized design often used in heraldry or as a political symbol.
Fleur de Lys or Fleur de Lis may also refer to:
Usage examples of "fleur-de-lis".
And what had he seen, Daniel Rawlings, that had made him draw the fleur-de-lis in the margin of his casebook, with that discreet notation, "Aurum"?
These guys bought dope off Fleur-de-Lis, and they admitted they knew Patchett sniffed horse and pushed pornography.
There, intricately embossed on the center of the cross, was a stylized fleur-de-lis with the initials P.
With its handsome balconies and decorative fleur-de-lis ironwork covering the mullioned windows of the first three levels, it could have been the headquarters of a successful multinational, or a multifamily dwelling.
A man of medium height, with no single compelling feature other than his eyes, which were penetrating and mournfully red-rimmed, Mzee Tharaka today shunned the Western-style business suits of his retainers in favor of a Sambusai toga, a gorget of monkey's teeth, a red silk cloak featuring a pattern of alternating fleur-de-lis and (of all things) golden appliqué pineapples, and a set of silver anklets, from which depended tiny effigies of the country's vanishing wildlife, an ornamental touch that reminded Joshua of the grade-school name bracelet to which his sister, Anna Monegal, had once added charms depicting a puppy, a broken heart, a pair of saddle oxfords, a football, and so on.
The students, decorated on the collar with a golden fleur-de-lis, pommelled each other over the King of Rome.
He found out that a lot of Fleur-de-Lis customers had a bent for specialty smut, and he talked some of Pierce's old girls into letting him voyeur their sex parties.