coat of arms

noun phrase

1

: a tabard or surcoat embroidered with armorial bearings

2

a

: heraldic bearings (as of a person) usually depicted on an escutcheon often with accompanying adjuncts (such as a crest, motto, and supporters)

b

: a similar symbolic emblem

Examples of coat of arms in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An Illustration of Family The couple designed a family coat of arms for the wedding, drawn by Ms. Catron and featured on the menus at the reception. —Anna Grace Lee, New York Times, 16 May 2025

Archaeologists identified some 40 elements of graffiti, including five coats of arms. —Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 19 Apr. 2025

What To Know The coat of arms always contained a picture of a polar bear, long said to have represented Greenland. —Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025

At the center of the tiles is a coat of arms, identified by archaeologists as the emblem of Józef Lewicki, the Uniate bishop of Chełm from 1711 to 1730. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 5 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English cote of armes, translation of Middle French cote d'armes

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for coat of arms

• firearms
• alarms
• disarms
• forearms
• gendarmes
• charms
• farms
• harms

Kids Definition

coat of arms

: the heraldic arms belonging to a person, family, or group or a representation of these (as on a shield)