escutcheon

American  

[ih-skuhch-uhn] / ɪˈskʌtʃ ən /

noun

1. a shield or shieldlike surface on which a coat of arms is depicted.

2. an ornamental or protective plate around a keyhole, door handle, drawer pull, light switch, etc.

3. Nautical. a panel on the stern of a vessel bearing its name and port of registry.

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idioms

1. blot on one's escutcheon, a stain on one's reputation; disgrace.

escutcheon British  

/ ɪˈskʌtʃən /

noun

1. a shield, esp a heraldic one that displays a coat of arms

2. Also called: escutcheon plate.  a plate or shield that surrounds a keyhole, door handle, light switch, etc, esp an ornamental one protecting a door or wall surface

3. the place on the stern or transom of a vessel where the name is shown

4. a stain on one's honour

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Other Word Forms

• escutcheoned
  adjective
• unescutcheoned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of escutcheon

1470–80; < Old North French escuchon ≪ Latin scūtum shield

Explanation

An escutcheon is a shield with a particular family's coat of arms on it. Long ago, knights carried escutcheons into battle. Escutcheon comes from the Old French escusson, which was both a "half-crown coin" and also a "coat of arms," from a Latin root meaning "shield." An escutcheon can be an actual shield, held as defense from an opponent's sword, or the shape of a shield, especially when it's part of a coat of arms. A more modern meaning of this word is "flat metal around a keyhole," a piece of hardware with a vaguely shield-like shape.

Example Sentences

Escutcheon, toboggan, chrysalis, mollify, appurtenant, desecrate, diaphanous, discernible, penitentiary .

From Time Magazine Archive

In the monument of this great Earl, at Warwick, upon the Escutcheon of Pretence the arms of Bohun are quartered with those of Clare and Despencer.

From The Handbook to English Heraldry by Utting, R. B.

Seeing the Unblotted Escutcheon turning black with what he supposed to be the record of his own misdeeds showing through the whitewash, the Orator fell dead of mortification. 

From Fantastic Fables by Bierce, Ambrose

Where for the Escutcheon of Pretence each noble person bears the Hieroglyphic of that vertue he is famous for.

From Bacon is Shake-Speare by Durning-Lawrence, Sir Edwin

Whose fault?—not mine! but hers or his, that ancestor who gave Escutcheon to our humble house—a death's-head and a grave.

From Days and Dreams Poems by Cawein, Madison J.