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orle, n.

DRAFT REVISION Mar. 2010

Brit. /l/, U.S. /r()l/  Forms: 15 vrle, 15- orle. [< Middle French ourle narrow bordure following the outline of a shield (c1280 in Old French; compare Anglo-Norman orle, ourle, urle, Old French urle edge, hem of a garment (first half of the 12th cent.)), Middle French, French orle rim of a shield (c1160 in Old French), helmet rim (c1250), narrow bordure following the outline of a shield (1459), plinth at the base of a column (1647; after Italian orlo in this sense), fillet under the ovolo of a capital (1694) < orler, ourler URLE v.¹ Compare post-classical Latin orla (1244), urla edging, border (1157, 1200 in British sources), Italian orlo border, brim, hem (1300-13), plinth under the base of a column (1570 or earlier), Spanish orla border, hem (1490).
  In earlier heraldic use (c1300), the senses of Anglo-Norman orle and bordure (see BORDURE n.) seem not to have been sharply differentiated.
  With use in architecture compare later ORLO n.] 

    1. Heraldry.

    a. A number of small charges (usually eight) arranged around the shield so as to form an orle (sense 1b). in orle: (of subordinate charges) arranged in this manner.

1572 J. BOSSEWELL Wks. Armorie II. f. 43, K. beareth Or, a Lyon Seiante, Sable, within an Orle d'Ogresses. 1587 A. FLEMING et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1370/1 He beareth azure, a crosse forme fiche or, within an vrle of stars or. 1610 J. GUILLIM Display of Heraldrie III. ii. 88 These Stars are said to bee borne in Orle or Orle-waies. 1786 W. BOYS Coll. Hist. Sandwich (1792) 797 The same legend of St. Martin within a quatrefoil, with four demi-ships conjoined with four demi-lions in orle. 1864 C. BOUTELL Heraldry Hist. & Pop. vii. 32 Sometimes a series of separate charges form an Orle. 1970 Armorial 6 47 The universal challenge shield..with the main device of the club in the centre and an ‘orle’ of little silver replicas of itself. 1988 T. WOODCOCK & J. M. ROBINSON Oxf. Guide to Heraldry Gloss. 204 Charges placed in orle follow the line of the orle as on the illustrated seal of Aymer (de Valence), Earl of Pembroke.

    b. A narrow bordure following the outline of a shield but not extending to its edge.

1610 J. GUILLIM Display of Heraldrie II. vii. 65 The Orle..is an Ordinarie composed of a threefold line duplicated, admitting a Transparencie of the field, thorowout the innermost Area or space therein enclosed. 1704 J. HARRIS Lexicon Technicum I, Tressure, a term in Heraldry for an Orle when it is flowered. 1830 T. ROBSON Hist. Heraldry Gloss., Orle, an inner bordure of the same shape as the escutcheon itself... The field being seen within and round it, on both sides. 1872 J. RUSKIN Eagle's Nest §235 The Orle, a narrow band following the outline of the shield midway between its edge and centre, is a more definite expression of enclosure or fortification by moat or rampart. 1950 C. W. SCOTT-GILES Boutell's Heraldry (rev. ed.) vii. 54 The Orle..blazoned by early heralds as a ‘false escutcheon’ or an ‘escutcheon voided’..is in form an escutcheon with the centre cut away leaving only a narrow border. 1988 T. WOODCOCK & J. M. ROBINSON Oxf. Guide to Heraldry Gloss. 204 Orle, a voided escutcheon a bordure's width from the edge of the shield.

    2. Archit. = ORLO n. Obs. rare.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (ed. 6) (at cited word), In Architecture, Orle is the same with Plinth. 1728 E. CHAMBERS Cycl., Orle..in Architecture, a Fillet under the Ovolo, or Quarter-round of a Capital. 1852 E. LOMAX & T. GUNYON Nicholson's Encycl. of Archit. II. 311/2 The plinth is also called the orle or orlo.

    3. A chaplet or wreath round the helmet of a knight, bearing his crest. hist.

1834 J. R. PLANCHÉ Hist. Brit. Costume 186 A bascinet..having..the lining or cap within, and the orle or chaplet without. 1885 H. A. DILLON Fairholt's Costume in Eng. (ed. 3) I. 208 Good examples of the jewelled orles will be found in the effigies of Sir Edward de Thorpe, 1418 [etc.]. 2001 N. SAUL Death, Art, & Memory vii. 172 The bascinet is encircled near the crown by a jewelled orle.

    4. The rim of a shield. rare.

1890 Cent. Dict., Orle, the rim of a shield. 1957 D. L. SAYERS tr. Song of Roland 171 About his neck he hangs his scutcheon broad: The boss is golden and crystal is the orle.

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    DERIVATIVES

    orleways adv. Obs. rare = orlewise adv.

1610 J. GUILLIM Display of Heraldrie II. vii. 66 Borne *Orlewaise, or in Orle.

    orlewise adv. rare in the form or manner of an orle.

1903 N.E.D. at Orle, A band of small charges arranged round the shield *orlewise.

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