martlet
9.9
A small bird like a swallow that flies quickly
- noun
- /ˈmɑrtlɪt/
- Archaic
:
martinete
- During the summer, we often spotted the martlet flying over the river near our home.
Examples
-
The poet described the martlet as a beautiful creature soaring through the sky.
-
The boyar's daughter had a little yellow bird tattooed on her bare hip, the d'Medved golden martlet.
Fiction book (2002) -
In medieval heraldry, the martlet symbolizes a nobleman who has never traveled by land.
Synonyms
swallow
vsmartlet
15
2.1
A small bird with long pointed wings and a forked tail that eats insects
is an archaic poetic word used instead of the regular modern name
martin
vsmartlet
1
6.1
A small bird like a swallow with long pointed wings and a slightly forked tail
is an archaic and poetic word rather than the standard modern term
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Martlet comes from the bird name martin plus the little ending -let meaning 'small', so it literally means a 'small martin' or little swallow. That is why in old poems a martlet names a small swallow-like bird and sounds poetic or old-fashioned.