segreantadj.
/ˈsɛɡriːənt/ Heraldry.
An epithet applied to a griffin (in quot. a1695, perhaps erroneously, to a falcon). The real meaning of the term seems to be unknown. In some examples it is combined with passant; if this be not an error, the explanation in modern books, ‘Rampant with wings expanded’, cannot be correct.
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society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > heraldic representations of creatures > [adjective] > specific movements of heraldic beasts > of birds
rousantc1460
segreanta1550
volant1572
rising1632
surgiant1688
soarant1828
soaring1828
a1550 in S. Baring-Gould & R. Twigge Armory Western Counties (1898) 5 Bligh: Azur a griffon sergreant arg.
1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory 106 A Griffin sergreant Or.—Wherefore saye you Sergreante?—For that he is halfe byrd, half beast.
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xxvi. 181 Hee beareth Argent, a Griffon Passant, his wings displaied Sable... Leigh in his Blazon of this Beast, addeth this word Sergreant, in regard of his two-fold forme.
a1640 T. Risdon Chorogr. Surv. Devon (1811) (modernized text) §95 91 A Griffin, segreant, or.
1682 J. Gibbon Introd. ad Latinam Blasoniam 60 Segreant..is the proper term for a Griffon displaying his Wings, Segreant ses aisles, as ready to fly.
a1695 A. Wood Surv. Antiq. City of Oxf. (1899) III. 146 Armes are ‘parted per chevron azure and argent, in chief two falcons sergreant or’.
1763 Brit. Mag. 4 415 On a wreath, a gryphon passant, segreant, sable.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.a1550