orle

American  

[awrl] / ɔrl /

noun

1. Heraldry.

   1. a charge in the form of a narrow band following the form of the escutcheon within the edge, so that the extreme outer edge of the escutcheon is of the field tincture.

   2. an arrangement in orle of small charges.

      azure, an orle of bezants.

2. Armor. a thick roll of cloth or leather on a helmet forming a base for an ornamental crest.

3. Also called orlo.  Also called orlet.  Architecture.

   1. a border, as one formed by a fillet.

   2. a fillet at the upper end of the shaft of a column.

   3. a fillet between two flutes of a column.

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orle British  

/ ɔːl /

noun

1. heraldry a border around a shield

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Etymology

Origin of orle

1565–75; < Middle French: border, edge < Vulgar Latin *ōrulus, diminutive of Latin ōra border

Example Sentences

They chose a big orle, so big that the strongest field hands bent their backs under its weight.

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry

The Tressure or flowered tressure is a figure which is correctly described by Woodward’s incorrect description of the orle as cited above, being a narrow inner border of the shield.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

The voided scocheon is wrongly named in all the heraldry books as an orle, a term which belongs to a number of small charges set round a central charge.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

Thus the martlets in the shield of Erpingham, already described, may be called an orle of martlets or a border of martlets.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

See! a saltire within an orle is the private water-mark of Sergeant & Co.

From The Cab of the Sleeping Horse by Scott, John Reed