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

Butler’s well-known line, “The herald’s martlet hath no legs,” has rendered most readers aware of the singular defect of this otherwise beautiful charge.

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)

Arden or Arderne gu, three cross-crosslets fitchée or; on a chief of the second a martlet of the first.

From Shakespeare's Family by Stopes, C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael)

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