armes parlantes

/ arm parlɑ̃t /

plural noun

1. heraldry arms using devices to illustrate the name of the bearers, such as a rose and a wall to illustrate the name Rosewall

Word History and Origins

Origin of armes parlantes¹

literally: speaking arms

Example Sentences

Leigh and others call them gorges; but the charge properly known by that name is a whirlpool, as borne in the armes parlantes of the family of Gorges.

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II., armes parlantes are still more abundant.

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At present, I shall confine myself to the second class, which are called, in Latin blazon, Arma Cantantia, in French, Armes Parlantes, and in English, Canting Arms.

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Time has also dealt leniently with the picture, for it is as clear and bright as the day it was painted, and is carefully preserved in its original frame, into which a sliding wooden panel is made to fit and cover it: the outside being emblazoned with the armes parlantes of the family of Holzschuher—a wooden shoe, raised from the ground in the manner of the Venetian chopine.

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I may confess, however, that in later years, when my fortune had bettered, I assumed those armes parlantes, if only as a brave device wherewith to seal a letter.

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