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

What's honour but a hatchment? what is here Of Percy left, or Stanley, names most dear To virtue?

From The Romance of Biography (Vol 2 of 2) or Memoirs of Women Loved and Celebrated by Poets, from the Days of the Troubadours to the Present Age. 3rd ed. 2 Vols. by Jameson, Mrs. (Anna)

If the family bore arms, the hatchment, emblazoned with this emblem, was hung upon the door.

From Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century by Jester, Annie Lash

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.

Such parchment or hatchment glory might have been his, and many a knight, as good as he, has received no better, no more lasting reward for his loyalty and bravery.

From Chips From A German Workshop. Vol. III. Essays on Literature, Biography, and Antiquities by Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)