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 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

An orle is a perforated inescutcheon, and usually takes the shape of the shield whereon it is placed.

From The Manual of Heraldry; Fifth Edition Being a Concise Description of the Several Terms Used, and Containing a Dictionary of Every Designation in the Science by Anonymous

To Samson is ascribed, Gules, a lion couchant or, within an orle argent, semée of bees sable, an equally evident allusion to a passage in the bearer’s history.

From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony

Az. an inescocheon in an orle of martlets or.

From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 105, November 1, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various