hatchment

[ hach-muhnt ]

/ ˈhætʃ mənt /

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noun Heraldry.

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

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showing self-respect

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Origin of hatchment

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

Words nearby hatchment

hatchettite, hatchetwork, Hatchie, hatching, hatchling, hatchment, hatchway, hat dance, hate, hateable, hate crime

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use hatchment in a sentence

If the family bore arms, the hatchment, emblazoned with this emblem, was hung upon the door.
Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century|Annie Lash Jester
There is the inverted triangular plan, and the shield or hatchment form.
Of the Decorative Illustration of Books Old and New|Walter Crane
I refer to the methods of depicting arms upon hatchments, and more particularly to the hatchment of a married woman.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry|Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
If for a bachelor the hatchment bears upon a shield his arms, crest, and other appendages, the whole on a black ground.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 1|Various

It is thus easy to discern from the hatchment the sex, condition and quality, and possibly the name of the deceased.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 1|Various

British Dictionary definitions for hatchment

hatchment

/ (ˈhætʃmənt) /

noun

heraldry a diamond-shaped tablet displaying the coat of arms of a dead personAlso called: achievement

Word Origin for hatchment

C16: changed from achievement

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