Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To describe (a coat of arms) in proper terms.
  • transitive verb To paint or depict (a coat of arms) with accurate detail.
  • transitive verb To adorn or embellish with or as if with a coat of arms.
  • transitive verb To proclaim widely.
  • noun A coat of arms.
  • noun The description or representation of a coat of arms.
  • noun An ostentatious display.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To explain in proper heraldic terms (the arms or bearings on a shield).
  • To depict (armorial bearings) according to the rules of heraldry.
  • To inscribe with arms, or some ornament; adorn with blazonry.
  • To deck; embellish; adorn as with blazonry.
  • To display; exhibit conspicuously; make known; publish.
  • To proclaim or publish boastingly; boast of.
  • noun In heraldry, a shield with arms on it; armorial bearings; a coat of arms; a banner bearing arms.
  • noun A description in technical language of armorial bearings.
  • noun Interpretation; explanation.
  • noun Publication; show; celebration; pompous display, either by words or by other means.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A shield.
  • noun An heraldic shield; a coat of arms, or a bearing on a coat of arms; armorial bearings.
  • noun The art or act of describing or depicting heraldic bearings in the proper language or manner.
  • noun Ostentatious display, either by words or other means; publication; show; description; record.
  • intransitive verb rare To shine; to be conspicuous.
  • transitive verb To depict in colors; to display; to exhibit conspicuously; to publish or make public far and wide.
  • transitive verb To deck; to embellish; to adorn.
  • transitive verb (Her.) To describe in proper terms (the figures of heraldic devices); also, to delineate (armorial bearings); to emblazon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun heraldry A verbal or written description of a coat of arms.
  • noun heraldry A formalized language for describing a coat of arms.
  • noun heraldry : A coat of arms or a banner depicting a coat of arms.
  • verb transitive To describe a coat of arms.
  • verb To make widely or generally known, to proclaim.
  • verb To display conspicuously or publicly.
  • verb To shine; to be conspicuous.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb decorate with heraldic arms
  • noun the official symbols of a family, state, etc.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably from Middle English blasoun, shield, from Old French blason.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French blason ("shield").

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Examples

  • * As noted in Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry, the word blazon comes from the German word blasen, to blow as with a horn, because in the age of heraldry the style and arms of each knight were so proclaimed on public occasions.

    Carolyn Vega: An Elizabethan Armorial Carolyn Vega 2011

  • * As noted in Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry, the word blazon comes from the German word blasen, to blow as with a horn, because in the age of heraldry the style and arms of each knight were so proclaimed on public occasions.

    Carolyn Vega: An Elizabethan Armorial Carolyn Vega 2011

  • The blazon is followed by a first-person report of a fantasy

    Commentary on "The Country Girl" by William Wordsworth 2000

  • English Rolls and examples of Arms. The Royal bird, however, does not occur in English blazon so frequently as the Lion; and his appearance often denotes an alliance with German Princes.

    The Handbook to English Heraldry Charles Boutell 1844

  • Though he was not strong enough in French blazon to know the house that bore that device, Antonin felt sure that the Cinq-Cygnes would not send their chariot, nor the Princess de Cadignan a missive by her maid, except to a person of the highest nobility.

    The Deputy of Arcis Honor�� de Balzac 1824

  • The GYRON, a triangular figure, not known in English blazon as a separate charge (except perhaps in the one case of the arms of

    The Handbook to English Heraldry Charles Boutell 1844

  • -- When a knight entered the lists at a tournament, his presence was announced by sound of trumpet or horn, after which the officers of arms, the official Heralds, declared his armorial insignia -- they “blazoned” his Arms. This term, “to blazon,” derived from the German word “_blasen_,” signifying “to blow a blast on

    The Handbook to English Heraldry Charles Boutell 1844

  • And for the heraldry buffs among you: The technical heraldic description of the Middleton Coat of Arms, known as a 'blazon' is

    Forbes.com: News Marc E. Babej 2011

  • Below many of the shields, another later scribe has penned a blazon a formal description of the coat of arms.

    Carolyn Vega: An Elizabethan Armorial Carolyn Vega 2011

  • Below the painted shield, the later scribe has penned the blazon "Sapphire a bend Topaz surmounted of a fillet Ruby."

    Carolyn Vega: An Elizabethan Armorial Carolyn Vega 2011

Comments

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  • Noun. In heraldry, armorial bearings or coat of arms, or the verbal description thereof.

    Verb. To describe in proper heraldic language.

    February 5, 2007

  • I always kind of wish this word applied to the object blazer, so that I could say "I have a couple blazons hanging in my closet," or "I wore a blazon to work."

    August 26, 2009

  • It does sound more sporty (and I don't mean dangerous). ;-)

    August 26, 2009