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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Heraldry A shield or shield-shaped emblem bearing a coat of arms.
  2. n. An ornamental or protective plate, as for a keyhole.
  3. n. Nautical The plate on the stern of a ship inscribed with the ship's name.
  4. idiom. a blot on (one's) escutcheon Dishonor to one's reputation.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. In heraldry, the surface upon which are charged a person's armorial bearings, other than the crest, motto, supporters, etc., which are borne separately. This surface is usually shield-shaped, and shield is often used as synonymous with escutcheon. But the escutcheon of a woman is lozenge-shaped and should not be styled a shield, and the sculptured escutcheons of the eighteenth century were commonly panels of fantastic form, surrounded by rococo scrollwork, and usually having a convex rounded surface. (See cartouche, 7.) The space within the outline of the escutcheon is called, for the purposes of blazon, the field. (See field.) A shield used as a bearing is sometimes improperly called an escutcheon. See shield. Also scutcheon.
  2. n. Something, either artificial or natural, having more or less resemblance to an escutcheon. Specifically— Nautical, the panel on a ship's stern where her name is painted

Wiktionary

  1. n. An individual or corporate coat of arms.
  2. n. A decorative and/or protective plate or bezel to fill the gap between a switch, pipe, valve, control knob, etc, and the surface from which it protrudes.
  3. n. The insignia around doorknob's exterior hardware or a door lock's cosmetic plate.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. The surface, usually a shield, upon which bearings are marshaled and displayed. The surface of the escutcheon is called the field, the upper part is called the chief, and the lower part the base (see chiff, and field.). That side of the escutcheon which is on the right hand of the knight who bears the shield on his arm is called dexter, and the other side sinister.
  2. n. A marking upon the back of a cow's udder and the space above it (the perineum), formed by the hair growing upward or outward instead of downward. It is esteemed an index of milking qualities.
  3. n. That part of a vessel's stern on which her name is written.
  4. n. A thin metal plate or shield to protect wood, or for ornament, as the shield around a keyhole.
  5. n. The depression behind the beak of certain bivalves; the ligamental area.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a flat protective covering (on a door or wall etc) to prevent soiling by dirty fingers
  2. n. a shield; especially one displaying a coat of arms
  3. n. (nautical) a plate on a ship's stern on which the name is inscribed

Etymologies

  1. Middle English escochon, from Anglo-Norman escuchon, from Vulgar Latin *scūtiō, scūtiōn-, from Latin scūtum, shield; see skei- in Indo-European roots.

Examples

  • “The fair fame of Harvard is the possession of every son and daughter of Massachusetts, and the least stain that mars her escutcheon is the sorrow of all.”

    Gala-days

  • “To the left of the escutcheon was the figure of a woman, standing.”

    The Memoirs of Victor Hugo

  • “Camden society what the old church at Jamestown probably was, may be seen the tomb of a Tazewell, who died in 1706, on which is engraved the coat of arms of the family, -- a lion rampant, bearing a helmet with a vizor closed on his back; an escutcheon, which is evidently of Norman origin, and won by some daring feat of arms, and which could only have been held by one of the conquering race.”

    Discourse of the Life and Character of the Hon. Littleton Waller Tazewell

  • “The Zornozas boast an escutcheon which is embellished with a band, a number of wolves, and a legend whose import I do not recall.”

    Youth and Egolatry

  • “Victorian outcry against what was termed 'a blot 'on the already rather shady' escutcheon 'of Australia, the immigration was stopped in 1868.”

    Town Life in Australia

  • “Dorsetshire, of the latter period, is of stone, the upper part worked in plain oblong panels; and a kind of escutcheon within one of these bears the date 1592; the lower part or basement of this pulpit is circular in form.”

    The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture, Elucidated by Question and Answer, 4th ed.

  • “Holding out the word "government" as a kind of escutcheon to his people, it is Obama's message that his government is the ally not just of multicultural Democrats, as his opponents would have it, but the friend of all Americans.”

    Thestar.com - Home Page

  • “Clack Row, "mentioned in the preceding extract from the minutes, and it is likely that there is some connection between the" escutcheon "ordered and his burial, i.e. it was, probably ordered for his coffin, he being" in extremis "at the time the”

    A History of Caroline County, Virginia

  • “Heraldry — abatement, cadency, clarion, escutcheon, jessant-de-lys, rampant, talbot (I could go on for close to a thousand words as classical heraldry uses Norman French)”

    The Logophile « Write Anything

  • “Her whiter-than-white teeth caused Biden boosters in the theater to recoil in horror at this blot on Joe's enamel escutcheon.”

    The Huffington Post: Michael Jones: Cowboys and Aliens

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  • heypacksees Also, the medical term for the distribution of human pubic hair. Do try to resist the opportunities rife with low-brow humor this provides. Mar 6, 2012

  • ext11 Mentioned in "A Tale of Two Cities"! Jul 31, 2011

  • super-logos Do the bears of McCutcheon
    have an escutcheon?
    Sadly, no, said Brown Bear,
    who slinked into his lair
    to devise a great crest for himself.

    A salmon in the left corner,
    A paw in the right,
    Fur and teeth spread all over,
    To reveal ominous might.

    Posted on the door
    For all to see,
    The crest of Brown Bear
    will make a burglar flee.

    But little do they know
    that inside his dens
    A sweet bear holds court
    With all his winter friends.

    Turkeys and ducks and sweet
    little toads
    Write poetry, and dance,
    while snows coat the roads.

    'Tis a fine place, this House of Bear.
    Crest or no crest, it's great to be there.


    (this assumes a male bear)

    Aug 15, 2008

  • milosrdenstvi * GENERAL: Why do I sit here? To escape from the pirates' clutches, I described myself as an orphan; and, heaven help me, I am no orphan! I come here to humble myself before the tombs of my ancestors, and to implore their pardon for having brought dishonour on the family escutcheon.
    FREDERIC: But you forget, sir, you only bought the property a year ago, and the stucco on your baronial castle is scarcely dry.
    GENERAL: Frederic, in this chapel are ancestors: you cannot deny that. With the estate, I bought the chapel and its contents. I don't know whose ancestors they were, but I know whose ancestors they are, and I shudder to think that their descendant by purchase (if I may so describe myself) should have brought disgrace upon what, I have no doubt, was an unstained escutcheon.

    -- W.S. Gilbert, The Pirates of Penzance Aug 15, 2008

  • super-swany A blot upon your escutcheon Oct 21, 2007

  • chained_bear In heraldry, the shield or shield-shaped surface on which a coat of arms is depicted; also in wider sense, the shield with the armorial bearings; a sculptured or painted representation of this.

    Usage: 1815 SCOTT Guy M. xli, The carved stone escutcheon of the ancient family...was hung diagonally beneath the helmet and crest. Feb 4, 2007

‘escutcheon’ has been looked up 2468 times, loved by 3 people, added to 83 lists, commented on 6 times, and has a Scrabble score of 17.