inescutcheon

English

WOTD – 3 February 2023

Etymology

PIE word
*h₁én

The coat of arms of John de Vaux, a 13th-century English nobleman, features among other things an inescutcheon gules (“red”) on a larger escutcheon argent (“silver or white”).

From in- (prefix meaning ‘in; within’) +‎ escutcheon.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnɪˈskʌt͡ʃn̩/, /ɪnɛ-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnɪˈskʌt͡ʃ(ə)n/, /ɪnɛ-/
• Rhymes: -ʌtʃən
• Hyphenation: in‧e‧scutch‧eon

Noun

inescutcheon (plural inescutcheons)

1. (heraldry) A small escutcheon (“coat of arms; shield”) (such as an escutcheon of pretence) which is charged (“represented”) on a larger escutcheon.
   • 1718, Alexander Nisbet, “Of Arms of Alliances, with the Method of Marshalling Them and Others Quarterly”, in An Essay on the Ancient and Modern Use of Armories; […], Edinburgh: […] William Adams Junior, for Mr. James Mack Euen, […], →OCLC, page 112:

     All the quartered Arms that I meet vvith belonging to Scottiſh Families, do not exceed ſix different Coats of Arms, vvhich are marſhalled after theſe three vvays, Plain Quartering, Quartering, and Counter-quartering, of vvhich I have treated and illuſtrate by Examples, vvith their Surtouts and Ineſcutcheons.

   • 1724, John Guillim, chapter VII, in A Display of Heraldry. […], 6th edition, London: […] T. W. for R. and J. Bonwicke and R. Wilkin, […] [a]nd J. Walthoe and Tho[mas] Ward, […], →OCLC, page 49, column 1:

     [A]n Ineſcutcheon is properly the Charge of a Shield, and born vvithin a 'Scutcheon or Shield, […]

   • 1852, J[ames] R[obinson] Planché, “Artificial Objects”, in The Pursuivant of Arms, or Heraldry Founded upon Facts, London: W. N. Wright, […], →OCLC, page 124:

     When only one escutcheon is borne as a charge, it is now generally termed an inescutcheon, but in the early rolls there is no such distinction.

   • 1992, Duane L. C. M. Galles, “The Reform of Ecclesiastical Heraldry Revisited”, in The American Benedictine Review, volume 43, number 4, Atchison, Kan.: American Benedictine Review, →ISSN, →OCLC, footnote 15, page 424:

     When he became titular bishop of Hippo and auxiliary bishop of Boston, he added an inescutcheon or small shield in the center of his shield bearing a gold heart inflamed pierced by an arrow and on a blue field. Since titular bishops do not impale their personal arms with those of the see, this was a convenient reference to his titular see.

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: pienoiskilpi
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: scudetto (it) m
• Macedonian: шти́тче n (štítče)
• Middle English: scochon (rare)
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: щито́к (ru) m (ščitók)
• Swedish: hjärtsköld c

Further reading

• escutcheon (heraldry) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia