merlette

English

Etymology

A merlette in French heraldry

From Late Middle English [Term?], from Anglo-Norman merlet (from merle (“blackbird”) + -et (“suffix forming a noun”)), or from Middle French merlette (“little blackbird; merlette (heraldic charge)”) (from merle (“blackbird”)—formerly a feminine noun) + -ette (“diminutive suffix for a feminine noun”). Merle is from Latin merula (“blackbird”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ems- (“black; blackbird”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /məːˈlɛt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɚˈlɛt/
• Hyphenation: mer‧lette

Noun

merlette (plural merlettes)

1. (heraldry) In French heraldry, a depiction of a mythological bird without beak or feet.

See also

• martlet (“depiction of a bird in English heraldry with stylized feet”)

Further reading

• list of heraldic charges on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

From merle +‎ -ette, literally “little blackbird”, the word for the male blackbird being mostly female until the 16th century (a male: "une merle", a little male: "une merlette").

Meaning 2 (hen blackbird) appears in 1839.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

merlette f (plural merlettes)

1. (heraldry) the merlette
2. female blackbird

   Synonym: merlesse

Further reading

• Trévoux (1771) Dictionnaire universel françois et latin‎^[3]
• Adolphe Hatzfeld, Arsène Darmesteter, Antoine Thomas (1890) Dictionnaire général de la langue française du commencement du XVIIe siècle à nos jours‎^[4]