Standard Lemma guide

heraldry

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈhɛɹ.əl.dɹi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH EH1 R AH0 L D R IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The profession or art of devising, granting and blazoning coats of arms, tracing genealogies and ruling on questions of protocol or rank.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Rouge Dragon Pursuivant is a specialist in heraldry at the College of Arms.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An armorial ensign along with its history and description.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Pageantry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Onlookers were impressed by the rich and colorful heraldry.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

emblem indicating the right of a person to bear arms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: emblem

Narrower terms: charge, bearing, heraldic bearing, armorial bearing, coat of arms, arms, blazon, blazonry

5

noun

Meaning 5

the study and classification of armorial bearings and the tracing of genealogies

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inquiry, enquiry, research

History

Etymology

From herald + -ry. First attested in 1572. Displaced earlier heraldy, equivalent to herald + -y.

Across languages

Translations

69 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Arabic: عِلْم شِعَارات النَبَالَة (ʕilm šiʕārāt an-nabāla) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Armenian: գերբագիտություն (gerbagitutʻyun) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Azerbaijani: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Basque: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Belarusian: гера́льдыка (hjerálʹdyka) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Breton: ardamezouriezh — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Bulgarian: хера́лдика (heráldika) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Catalan: heràldica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Chinese Mandarin: 紋章學 /纹章学 (wénzhāngxué) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Corsican: araldicu — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Corsican: eraldicu — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Czech: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Danish: heraldik — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Dutch: wapenkunde — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Dutch: heraldiek — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Esperanto: heraldiko — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Estonian: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Finnish: heraldiikka — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Finnish: vaakunaoppi — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • French: héraldique — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • West-Frisian: wapenkunde — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • West-Frisian: heraldyk — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Friulian: eraldiche — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Galician: armaría — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Galician: heráldica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Georgian: ჰერალდიკა (heraldiḳa) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • German: Heraldik — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • German: Heroldskunst — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • German: Wappenwesen — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Greek: εραλδική (eraldikí) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Hebrew: הרלדיקה (heraldika) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Hungarian: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Icelandic: skjaldarmerkjafræði — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Indonesian: perbentaraan — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Irish: araltas — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Italian: araldica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Japanese: 紋章学 (monshōgaku) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Korean: 문장학 (munjanghak) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Latvian: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Ligurian: aràldica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Lithuanian: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Macedonian: хералдика (heraldika) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Norwegian Bokmål: heraldikk — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: heraldikk — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Occitan: heraudica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Persian: نشانشناسی (nešân-šenâsi) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Polish: heraldyka — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Portuguese: heráldica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Romagnol: aràldica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Romanian: heraldică — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Russian: гера́льдика (gerálʹdika) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Scottish Gaelic: earraideas — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Serbo-Croatian: хера̀лдика — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Serbo-Croatian: heràldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Sicilian: aràldica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Slovak: heraldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Slovene: heráldika — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Spanish: blasón — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Spanish: heráldica — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Swedish: heraldik — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Thai: มุทราศาสตร์ (mudra-sàat) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Turkish: arma bilimi — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Turkish: heraldik — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Ukrainian: гера́льдика (herálʹdyka) — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Vietnamese: huy hiệu học — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Welsh: herodraeth — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Zazaki: heraldik — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
  • Zazaki: desmaloci — the profession of devising and blazoning arms
Real reading context

heraldry in complete knowledge articles