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annulet

[an-yuh-lit]
noun
  1. Also called bandelet, bandlet, square and rabbet. Architecture. an encircling band, molding, or fillet, as on the shaft of a column.
  2. Entomology. a ring, usually colored, around or on the surface of an organ.
  3. Heraldry. a ring, represented as a voided roundel, used especially as the cadence mark of a fifth son.
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Origin of annulet

1565–75; < Latin annul(us) ring (see annulus) + -et; replacing earlier anlet < Anglo-French anelet, diminutive of Old French anel ring < Latin ānellus ring
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for annulet

Historical Examples

  • The first crosslet is charged with an annulet, probably as a mark of cadency.

    A Complete Guide to Heraldry

    Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

  • Said of any charge when its central area is removed—thus, an Annulet is a false roundle.

  • Cotgrave gives: 'Touret, the annulet, or little ring whereby a hawk's lune is fastened unto the jesses.'

  • The Annulet seems to have been taken from the ring armour, much in use about the period of the Norman Conquest.

British Dictionary definitions for annulet

annulet

noun
  1. architect a moulding in the form of a ring, as at the top of a column adjoining the capital
  2. heraldry a ring-shaped device on a shield; hollow roundel
  3. a little ring
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Word Origin

C16: from Latin ānulus ring + -et
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012