portateadj.
/ˈpɔːtət/, /ˈpɔːteɪt/, U.S. /ˈpɔrˌteɪt/ Heraldry.
As postmodifier. In a sloping position, as if carried on the shoulder. Chiefly in cross portate. Cf. portant adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > cross > [noun] > cross in sloping position
cross portate1562
1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory 54 b Wherefore call you the same portate? For on this fashion it laye on Christes showlder, who bare the same to the mounte of Calvary.
1572 J. Bossewell Wks. Armorie ii. f. 99v A Crosse portate in his propre coloure.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory i. v. 51/2 He beareth Argent, a Cross portant (or portate) raguled and trunked, Gules.
1725 J. Coats New Dict. Heraldry (rev. ed.) s.v A Cross-Portate,..lies athwart the Escutcheon in Bend, as if it were carry'd on a Man's Shoulder.
1775 H. Clark & T. Wormull Short & Easy Introd. Heraldry 11 Cross-portate, so termed because it does not stand upright as generally all crosses do, but lies athwart the escutcheon in bend, as if it were carried on a man's shoulder.
?1828 W. Berry Encycl. Heraldica I. Gloss. Portate, or Portant, a cross portate is so called, because it..lies sloping,..as if it were carried on a man's shoulder.
1969 J. Franklyn & J. Tanner Encycl. Dict. Heraldry 264/2 Portate, lit. being carried; applied to objects, but particularly to a Latin cross, disposed in bend, as though resting over the shoulder of a porter unseen.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1562