English

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Etymology

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A merlette in French heraldry

From Late Middle English [Term?], from Anglo-Norman merlet (from merle (blackbird) + -et (suffix forming a noun)), or from Middle French merlette (little blackbird; merlette (heraldic charge)) (from merle (blackbird)—formerly a feminine noun) + -ette (diminutive suffix for a feminine noun).[1] Merle is from Latin merula (blackbird), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ems- (black; blackbird).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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merlette (plural merlettes)

  1. (heraldry) In French heraldry, a depiction of a mythological bird without beak or feet.

See also

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References

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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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From merle +‎ -ette, literally little blackbird, the word for the male blackbird being mostly female until the 16th century (a male: "une merle", a little male: "une merlette").[1]

Meaning 2 (hen blackbird) appears in 1839.[2][3]

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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merlette f (plural merlettes)

  1. (heraldry) the merlette
  2. female blackbird
    Synonym: merlesse

Further reading

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  • Trévoux (1771) Dictionnaire universel françois et latin[3]
  • Adolphe Hatzfeld, Arsène Darmesteter, Antoine Thomas (1890) Dictionnaire général de la langue française du commencement du XVIIe siècle à nos jours[4]
  1. ^ César-Pierre Richelet (1759) Dictionnaire de la langue françoise[1]
  2. ^ merlette”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
  3. ^ Louis Barré, Narcisse Landois (1839) Complément du dictionnaire de l’Académie Française[2], Bruxelles: Société typographique belge, Adolphe Wahlen et Cie, page 649
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Note 1