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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hatchment

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

There was a christening party at the largest coffin-maker's and a funeral hatchment had stopped some great improvements in the bravest mansion.

From Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

The shield on the dexter side of the hatchment is parted per pale; first, the arms of the bishopric; second, the paternal arms of the bishop.

From The Manual of Heraldry; Fifth Edition Being a Concise Description of the Several Terms Used, and Containing a Dictionary of Every Designation in the Science by Anonymous

Its period of service over, the hatchment had come down from the front of the house, and lived in retirement somewhere in the back premises of Sir Pitt's mansion.

From Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

Nay, then, let Sleeping Beauty sleep With ancient "Dozey" to the dregs— Let Mother Goose wear mourning deep, And put a hatchment o'er her eggs!

From The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood by Thomas Hood

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