heraldry

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English heraldie (“heralds collectively; the office of herald”),^[2][3] borrowed from Old French hiraudie (“heralds collectively”),^[4][3][2] from hiraut (“herald”).^[4][3] The spelling with -r-, from 1572, follows words such as poetry and pedantry;^[4][5] the OED and Merriam-Webster treat the word as formed from English herald + -ry.^[5][6][7][8] The French word hiraut is generally taken to be from Frankish *hariwald (“commander of an army”),^{[4][3][9][10]} a compound of words for "army" and "rule" related to harry and wield,^[11][4][8] though the OED calls the origin uncertain.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Heralds as a body, or the office of a herald: before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis, which speaks of "the heraldie of hem that usen for to lie".^{[2][3][12][13]}

Semantic evolution

Middle English heraldie meant the heralds collectively or their office.^[2][3] The modern sense, the art or science of armorial bearings, appears in 1572 in John Bossewell's Workes of Armorie.^[5][3][6] From 1594, in Shakespeare's Lucrece, the word could mean a heraldic device or armorial bearings themselves.^[5] Shakespeare also used it in Hamlet (1603) for heraldic law.^[5][7] Milton used it in 1645 for the announcing of something with pomp and ceremony,^[5] and Merriam-Webster records the sense of pageantry.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as the art or office of a herald and as blazonry, and in 1773 added the registry of genealogies.^[14]

Timeline

• before 1393 – heraldie, the office of herald, in Gower.^[2][3] The OED's first record of this sense is from 1593.^[5]
• before 1500 – heralds collectively.^[3][2]
• 1572 – the art or science of armorial bearings.^[5][3]
• 1594 – a heraldic device; armorial bearings, in Shakespeare.^[5]
• 1645 – announcing with pomp and ceremony, in Milton.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The study and practice of devising, granting and describing coats of arms, tracing genealogies and settling questions of rank.^[15][6][5]
2. Heraldic devices or insignia; armorial bearings.^[15][5]
3. Pageantry; ceremonial show.^[6][15][5]
4. The office or duties of a herald.^[15][5]

Word family

• heraldist

Related words

• herald
• heraldic
• harbinger
• harry
• wield

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins