shoulder-knot

English

Alternative forms

• shoulder knot

Noun

shoulder-knot (plural shoulder-knots)

1. (historical) An ornamental knot of ribbon or lace worn on the shoulders of fashionable men's jackets, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries.
   • 1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson:

     ‘May I?’ she whispered, smiling round into his face. His shoulder-knots just perceptibly rose.

2. A similar ornament of other materials worn on a military dress uniform.
3. A moth bearing a resemblance to such ornaments.

Derived terms

• Blair's shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri)
• grey shoulder-knot (Lithophane ornitopus)
• minor shoulder-knot (Brachylomia viminalis)
• rustic shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens)
• rusty shoulder-knot (Aseptis binotata)