Heraldry is the system of coats of arms and their designs. The rules of heraldry, a heraldry expert, English heraldry.
The descriptions are written in a language of their own, largely Norman French, so a shield is blazoned rather than described. Arms belong to a person rather than to a surname, which is why family crest shops are selling nothing.
1nounheraldryThe system of coats of arms and their designs.
“She studied heraldry to find out what the lions and crosses on the family shield meant.”
heraldry is a system.
From herald plus -ry, first recorded in 1572, since heralds recorded and regulated arms.
Proto-Indo-European
*ker- — army
Proto-Germanic
*harjawaldaz
Frankish
*heriwald
Old French
heraut
Anglo-Norman
heraud
Middle English
herald
Latin
heraldus
English
herald
English, today
heraldry
Built from
From herald + -ry. First attested in 1572. Displaced earlier heraldy, equivalent to herald + -y. herald comes from Latin heraldus, from Middle English herald, herauld, heraud, from Anglo-Norman heraud, from Old French heraut, hiraut (modern French héraut), from Frankish heriwald, from Proto-Germanic harjawaldaz, a compound consisting of Proto-Indo-European ker- (“army”) + h₂welh₁- (“to be strong”). a doublet of Harold and Harald; compare Walter, which has these elements reversed.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA