HATCHMENT • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Hatchment

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noun

Hatchment n.

(Her.) A sort of panel, upon which the arms of a deceased person are temporarily displayed, usually on the walls of his dwelling. It is lozenge-shaped or square, but is hung cornerwise. It is used in England as a means of giving public notification of the death of the deceased, his or her rank, whether married, widower, widow, etc. Called also achievement. "His obscure funeral; No trophy, sword, or hatchment o'er his bones."

A sword or other mark of the profession of arms; in general, a mark of dignity. "Let there be deducted, out of our main potation, Five marks in hatchments to adorn this thigh."

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Etymology of 'Hatchment'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Hatchment" Quotes from Famous Books

... A Sentimental Journey, lies about 18 miles north of York. The hamlet stands on slightly rising ground. At the bottom of the hill is the village smithy, the well, a farm, and facing a big elm tree is the inn, bearing a great hatchment-like signboard showing the Fauconberg arms and motto. The cottages of the villagers are on the slope of the hill, and at the top is the church to which Sterne was appointed vicar in 1760. Close at hand is the quaint seventeenth-century ...

— What to See in England • Gordon Home

... d'Orleans and the Church of Saint-Francois the two funerals went between a double row of curious onlookers for everything (as was said before) makes a sensation in the quarter. Every one remarked the splendor of the white funeral car, with a big embroidered P suspended on a hatchment, and the one solitary mourner behind it; while the cheap bier that came after it was followed by an immense crowd. Happily, Schmucke was so bewildered by the throng of idlers and the rows of heads in the windows, that he heard no remarks and only saw the faces through ...

— Cousin Pons • Honore de Balzac