hatchment

American  

[hach-muhnt] / ˈhætʃ mənt /

noun

Heraldry.

1. a square tablet, set diagonally, bearing the coat of arms of a deceased person.

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hatchment British  

/ ˈhætʃmənt /

noun

1. Also called: achievement.  heraldry a diamond-shaped tablet displaying the coat of arms of a dead person

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Etymology

Origin of hatchment

First recorded in 1540–50; variant (by syncopation and aspiration) of achievement

Example Sentences

Another hatchment with the arms of John Campbell and his second wife Henrietta Villiers — Elizabeth’s sister — made £3,250.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2011

Nay, then, let Sleeping Beauty sleep With ancient "Dozey" to the dregs— Let Mother Goose wear mourning deep, And put a hatchment o'er her eggs!

From The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood by Hood, Thomas

The arched hall was crowded on either side by her domestics, whose dresses formed a gloomy back-ground, which, nevertheless, accorded well with the hatchment that hung over the entrance,—a memorial of Lady Cecil's recent death.

From The Buccaneer A Tale by Hall, S. C., Mrs.

He knew that ere long sable plumes would be seen waving there, with a black hatchment upon the wall.

From The Child Wife by Reid, Mayne

Achieve′ment, a performance: an exploit: an escutcheon or armorial shield granted in memory of some achievement, applied especially to the escutcheon over the tomb of a dead person, generally called a hatchment.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various