martlet

American  

[mahrt-lit] / ˈmɑrt lɪt /

noun

1. British Dialect. a house martin.

2. Heraldry. a representation of a swallow close and without legs, used especially as the cadency mark of a fourth son.

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martlet British  

/ ˈmɑːtlɪt /

noun

1. an archaic name for a martin

2. heraldry a footless bird often found in coats of arms, standing for either a martin or a swallow

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Etymology

Origin of martlet

1530–40; < Middle French martelet, variant of martinet; martin, -et

Example Sentences

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 Lower, Mark Antony

Thus, the eldest son bears a label; the second a crescent; the third a mullet; the fourth a martlet; the fifth an annulet; and the sixth a fleur-de-lis.

From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony

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 Forestier, A. (Amédée)

Andrew Harcla, the march-warden, whom Edward II. made an earl and executed as a traitor, bore the arms of St George with a martlet sable in the quarter.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

This guest of summer, The temple-haunting martlet, does approve, By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath Smells wooingly here.

From Voices for the Speechless by Firth, Abraham