ESCUTCHEON • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Escutcheon

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noun

Escutcheon n.

(Her.) The surface, usually a shield, upon which bearings are marshaled and displayed. The surface of the escutcheon is called the field, the upper part is called the chief, and the lower part the base (see Chiff, and Field.). That side of the escutcheon which is on the right hand of the knight who bears the shield on his arm is called dexter, and the other side sinister. Note: The two sides of an escutcheon are respectively designated as dexter and sinister, as in the cut, and the different parts or points by the following names: A, Dexter chief point; B, Middle chief point; C, Sinister chief point; D, Honor or color point; E, Fesse or heart point; F, Nombrill or navel point; G, Dexter base point; H, Middle base point; I, base point.

A marking upon the back of a cow's udder and the space above it (the perineum), formed by the hair growing upward or outward instead of downward. It is esteemed an index of milking qualities.

(Naut.) That part of a vessel's stern on which her name is written.

(Carp.) A thin metal plate or shield to protect wood, or for ornament, as the shield around a keyhole.

(Zoöl.) The depression behind the beak of certain bivalves; the ligamental area.

Escutcheon of pretense, an escutcheon used in English heraldry to display the arms of the bearer's wife; not commonly used unless she an heiress. Cf. Impalement.

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Etymology of 'Escutcheon'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Escutcheon" Quotes from Famous Books

... their momentary weakness. In all diablerie the fiat of a superior can release a victim, so we may hope that godlike patriotism may not only forgive the penitent, but absolve him from the consequences of his own rash folly. To have been instrumental in dimming for one moment the glorious escutcheon of Illinois, requires pardon. To such words as have been spoken by some of her sons we may apply the ...

— The Continental Monthly, Vol. III, No. V, May, 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... Domingo. The present number of this unfortunate, degraded, and anomalous class of inhabitants cannot be much short of half a million; and the number is fast increasing. They are emphatically a mildew upon our fields, a scourge to our backs, and a stain upon our escutcheon. To remove them is mercy to ourselves, and justice to them.'—[African Repository, vol. v. pp. 28, ...

— Thoughts on African Colonization • William Lloyd Garrison

... sell and for which we paid a liberal price. England having fillibustered around the world, has reproached us for aggrandizement, and we point to history and invite a comparison. There is no stain upon our escutcheon, no smoke upon our garments, and thus may they remain pure forever! The acquisitions of which I spoke, the protectorate which was contemplated, were such as the necessities of the future should demand, and the good of others as much as our own ...

— Speeches of the Honorable Jefferson Davis 1858 • Hon. Jefferson Davis

... have been written on the origin of Heraldry and even on the antiquity of separate charges contained in an escutcheon: it would be filling the pages of an elementary work on Heraldry to little purpose to enter upon an inquiry as to the exact period of the introduction of an art that has existed in some degree in all countries whose inhabitants have emerged from barbarism ...

— The Manual of Heraldry; Fifth Edition • Anonymous

... of Columbia, as belonging strictly to the national government and to no separate State, has furnished a fruitful subject of remonstrance from British Christians with America. We have abolished slavery there, and thus wiped out the only blot of territorial responsibility on our escutcheon. ...

— The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe • Charles Edward Stowe

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