roundel

American  

[roun-dl] / ˈraʊn dl /

noun

1. something round or circular.

2. a small, round pane or window.

3. a decorative plate, panel, tablet, or the like, round in form.

4. Theater. Also a round piece of colored gelatin or glass placed over stage lights as a color medium to obtain lighting effects.

5. Armor.

   1. a metal disk that protects the armpit.

   2. a metal disk on a hafted weapon or a dagger to protect the hand.

6. Heraldry. a small circular charge.

7. Prosody.

   1. a rondel or rondeau.

   2. a modification of the rondeau, consisting of nine lines with two refrains.

8. a round dance.

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roundel British  

/ ˈraʊndəl /

noun

1. a form of rondeau consisting of three stanzas each of three lines with a refrain after the first and the third

2. a circular identifying mark in national colours on military aircraft

3. a small ornamental circular window, panel, medallion, plate, disc, etc

4. a round plate of armour used to protect the armpit

5. heraldry a charge in the shape of a circle

6. another word for roundelay

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Etymology

Origin of roundel

1250–1300; Middle English roundele, rundel ( le ) < Old French rondel, derivative of rond round ¹ (adj.)

Example Sentences

Among the show’s principal series are a few deviations: pictures with multiple soft-edged rings, and another whose central roundel is overlapped by another, off-kilter one.

From Washington Post • Jan. 13, 2023

Nearly 20 years ago, a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art led efforts to acquire an Italian Renaissance roundel that dates back to about 1500.

From New York Times • Feb. 23, 2022

The right side of the helmets and the shoulders of the jerseys display the roundel.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 10, 2021

So nice to see the faux heraldic crest and the currently ubiquitous roundel eschewed for something a bit more abstract.

From The Guardian • Jan. 23, 2021

Come, we must not again disagree; but, by my halidame, I think one troubadour roundel worth all that Petrarch ever wrote.

From Rienzi, Last of the Roman Tribunes by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron