martlet
Americannoun
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British Dialect. a house martin.
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Heraldry. a representation of a swallow close and without legs, used especially as the cadency mark of a fourth son.
noun
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an archaic name for a martin
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heraldry a footless bird often found in coats of arms, standing for either a martin or a swallow
Etymology
Origin of martlet
1530–40; < Middle French martelet, variant of martinet; see martin, -et
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Arden or Arderne gu, three cross-crosslets fitchée or; on a chief of the second a martlet of the first.
From Shakespeare's Family by C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael) Stopes
The allerion is a fabulous bird without either beak or legs, described by some writers as very small, like a martlet, while others give him the size of an eagle.
From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Mark Antony Lower
On his road to and from Shottery, he would have passed "under the shade of melancholy boughs" and watched the "guest of summer, the Temple-haunting martlet," that built under the eaves of Anne Hathaway's house.
From William Shakespeare His Homes and Haunts by A. (Amédée) Forestier
Arden or Arderne gu., three cross crosslets fitchée or; on a chief of the second a martlet of the first.
From Shakespeare's Family by C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael) Stopes
The younger sons of the eldest house to give these differences instead of the crescent, mullet, martlet, etc.:
From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Mark Antony Lower
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
