couchant

[ kou-chuhnt ]

adjective

1. lying down; crouching.
2. Heraldry. (of an animal) represented as lying on its stomach with its hind legs and forelegs pointed forward.

couchant

/ ˈkaʊtʃənt /

adjective

1. usually postpositive heraldry in a lying position

   a lion couchant

Word History and Origins

Origin of couchant¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French, present participle of coucher to lay or lie. See couch, -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of couchant¹

C15: from French: lying, from Old French coucher to lay down; see couch

Example Sentences

We see Kim getting dressed or undressed, lounging poolside or couchant on beds or “in my closet in Miami trying on clothes.”

From The New Yorker

That was how Cal discovered himself, in voluptuous, liquid, sterile culmination, couchant upon two or three deformed pillows, with the shades drawn and the drained swimming pool outside and the cars passing, endlessly, all night.

From Literature

Ahead could be discerned the famous rock, although viewed from an altitude and "end on" its well-known appearance as a lion couchant was absent.

From Project Gutenberg

Other positions must be named with care and the prowling “lion passant” distinguished from the rampant beast, as well as from such rarer shapes as the couchant lion, the lion sleeping, sitting or leaping.

From Project Gutenberg

The centre, which is in the light, is occupied by a couchant lion growling, his one paw on a bundle of arrows, the symbol of the United Provinces.

From Project Gutenberg