As with all aspects of heraldry, heraldic terms were very important in that they described a very specific part of heraldry and had a very specific meaning.
Accosted: side by side
Addorsed: back to back
Affronté: when an animal is seen in full front view
Aislé: with wings
Ambulent: walking
Ancient Crown: a circlet with 4 fleurs-de-lis on it (3 visible)
Apaumé: referring to a hand showing the palm
Arched: like an arch
Armed: referring to claws, teeth, horns or talons of animals/birds
Armigerous: applied to people who possessed coats of arms
Armorial bearings: another name for achievement of arms
At gaze: applied to a stag with its face looking at you
Attires: the horns of a deer
Attired: referring to horns
Augmentation: a special grant that allowed additions to a coat of arms often as a result of a special deed
Banded: with a band or ribbon around
Bars gemelles: barrulets placed in pairs
Barbed and seeded proper: a heraldic rose with five leaves in a natural colour
Beaked: referred to the beaks of birds and creatures like a griffin.
Bezanty: strewn with bezants
Billety: strewn with billets
Caboshed: applied to the head of a deer which is shown full face but with no neck
Cadency marks: symbols used a sons to emphasise differences between their coat of arms and their fathers
Canting arms: punning arms
Caparisoned: referred to a horse dressed for battle
Close: when the wings of a bird lie against iys body
Cockatrice: an imaginary beast made up of two different parts of two creatures
Combatant: when two lions faced each other seemingly in preparation to fight
Combed: a reference to the crest of a cock
Compony: a single row of chequers
Conjoined: joined together
Cotise: narrower than a bendlet
Cotised: a bend, fess or chevron is cotised when placed between two narrow bars.
Counter compony: two rows of chequers
Courant: running
Coward: an animal with its tail between its legs
Crined: this referred to human hair or the mane of animals
Crusily: scattered with little crosses
Dancetty: this described a zigzag line with fewer but bigger points than a line indented
Demi: halved
Dimidiation: two coats on one shield
Dormant: sleeping
Double-queued: with two tails
Ducally gorged and chained: with a crest coronet around the neck and a chain attached
Elevated: wings that are raised
Embowed: curved
Enfield: imaginary beast with the head of a fox, chest of an elephant, mane of a horse, front legs of an eagle, hind les of a greyhound and a lion’s tail
Eradicated: applied to a tree that is uprooted
Erect: in an upright position
Erminois: a fur – black spots on gold
Escutcheon: a shield
Escutcheon of pretence: a shield containing the arms of an heiress wife placed in the centre of her husband’s shield
Flory: a field scattered with fleurs-de-lis
Fructed: a tree bearing fruit
Fusil: diamond shape that is narrower than a lozenge
Gamb: leg of an animal
Gorged: placed around the neck
Gorges: a whirlpool
Goutteé: scattered with drops of liquid
Gyronny: where a shield has been divided into eight parts
Habited in: dressed in
Hauriant: a fish in an upright position
Hoofed: referred to the hooves of animals
Horned: referred to the horns of animals
Impaled: a shield that is parted down the middle so that two coats can be displayed
In splendour: the sun when it is shown with its rays
Inescutcheon: a shield placed inside another shield
Inverted: upside down; wings with tips downwards
Irradiated: with rays about it
Issuant: coming out of
Langued: referred to an animal’s tongue
Lined: with cords
Marshalling: grouping more than two or more coats of arms on one shield
Masoned: a reference to the lines that represent cement between bricks
Mural Crown: crown with the appearance of a wall with an embattled top
Naiant: swimming
Passion Nail: like a wedge and with no head
Pean: a fur – gold spots on black
Pendent: hanging
Per: used to show how a line is drawn to divide a shield
Pierced: with a hole so that another tincture shows through
Plate: a silver roundel
Platy: strewn with plates
Potent: a fur – made up of T-shapes
Queue fourché: with a forked tail
Radiant: charges that have the sun’s rays around them
Reguardant: looking behind
Respectant: face to face
Salient: springing
Sans: without
Sejant: sitting
Shafted: referred to the shaft of an arrow, spear etc
Surmounted: a charge that has another place on it
Tierced: divided into three
Torse: wreath
Torteau: a red roundel
Transfixed: pierced through
Trippant: used for deer shown to be walking
Unguled: referred to the hooves of animals
Urchin: a hedgehog
Voided: a charge with the middle removed so that only an outline remains
Volant: flying
Wattled: this described a cock’s wattles