oriflamme
See also: Oriflamme
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French oriflambe, oriflamme, from Medieval Latin auriflamma (“golden flame”), from Latin aurum (“gold”) + flamma (“flame”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɒɹɪflæm/
Noun
oriflamme (plural oriflammes)
- (historical) The red silk banner of St Denis, which the abbot of St Denis gave to French kings as they rode to war.
- 1988, Robert Irwin, The Mysteries of Algiers, Dedalus 1993, p. 58:
- The white banner with the golden lilies of France has been unfurled. The oriflamme has been presented to the virginal bride who stands before the altar in the forest chapel.
- 1988, Robert Irwin, The Mysteries of Algiers, Dedalus 1993, p. 58:
- (figuratively) Any banner, idea or principle which serves as a rallying point for those involved in a struggle.
- Macaulay
- And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre.
- 1963, Anthony Burgess, Inside Mr Enderby:
- Please remember that the vocabulary of our readers isn’t very extensive, so don’t go using words like ‘oriflamme’ or ‘inelectable’.
- Macaulay
- (literary) Something resembling the banner of St Denis; a bright, shining object.
- 1837 Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History
- This is that famed Martial law, with its Red Flag, its 'Drapeau Rouge:' in virtue of which Mayor Bailly, or any Mayor, has but henceforth to hang out that new Oriflamme of his; then to read or mumble something about the King's peace; and, after certain pauses, serve any undispersing Assemblage with musket-shot....
- 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 96:
- Lucette trotted into the room with a child's pink, stiff-bagged butterfly-net in her little fist, like an oriflamme.
- 1992, Moncrieff/Kilmartin/Enright, translating Marcel Proust, Swann's Way, Folio Society 2005, p. 417:
- Open spaces made visible the approach to almost every one of them, or else a splendid mass of foliage stood out before it like an oriflamme.
- 1837 Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
French
Etymology
Old French, from Medieval Latin auriflamma (“golden flame”), from Latin aurum (“gold”) + flamma (“flame”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɔ.ʁi.flam/
Further reading
- “oriflamme” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
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